Who Needs Love?
by Kali Ayers
Summary: Kali is a young woman working for Spirit World, independent, lives with her mom and brother, and doesn't work well with partners. Naturally, she gets four of them. Very very long. HieiOC Not a mebased mary sue not graphic, still notnice. M for later.
1. Who Needs Love?

_Who Needs Love?_

You're lying out in the middle of nowhere, in a classic movie grass field, the orange sun going down over a set of trees. You smell nothing but the air and the dust and pollen in it, and you smile a little at the picturesque-ness of the whole scene, and you start walking around. You feel the wind brush the grass against you, and blow your hair into your face. You stick that in your coat collar to make it go away.

Then the sky gets stormy. You hear a funny voice behind you, and whatever it is grabs you too quickly for you to react. A hand is placed over your mouth, and one of your hands is gripped, so you quickly ram your elbow into whosever head that is, and you stomp hard on his/her instep.

You are released, and you start to run, but a strange creature grabs you and doesn't let go. When you try to fight free, it wraps its arms around you and its legs around yours, preventing any movement until you fall over. You're pinned there, even after the creature lets go, and you feel a swift kick in the gut. You look up and see a strange manling that you remember seeing a few years ago, before he came to the Ningenkai.

"Who are you?" you ask.

He vanishes, as if he didn't hear you.

Something in you suddenly summons up your gag reflex, and you start to—

**WHAMWHAMWHAMWHAM!!!!!**

"Geddup!" a sleepy-sounding voice calls into your room. You try to remember the dream, but it's like holding dry sand, and you forget the more you try to remember. So you sit up and glare at the wall for being there and in your way, delaying your getting to breakfast, then decide that it's not going to move any time soon and get up to get dressed. The pounding on your door comes again in case you're not up yet, just as you manage to pull on your shirt. You make an annoyed noise and kick the door in return.

At breakfast, a boy you've seen a few time, Yusuke Urameshi, is staring blankly at his bowl of cereal across from you, and… you forget his name, but he's another one of the Reikai Tantei, a fire demon… is sitting by the window, of course, staring out of it. You don't actually know the boys, but you work with Spirit World, agreeing to work for Koenma as long as he doesn't lock you up. You aren't a criminal, per se. You're more of a... Well, you have enough power that Koenma would have to lock you up to keep from becoming too much of a threat. He pays you well, though, so you have no reason to rebel.

Koenma's loudspeaker sounded through the cafeteria and you heard your name and something about office.

When you get in, you see the boy in there as well, standing near the door. _He's quick,_ you think.

"Whaddya want, Koenma?" you ask, too tired to bother with politeness.

"Good morning to you, too, Kali," he says sarcastically. You can see that he's been up for a long time, the rings under his eyes are darkening and the pacifier is threatening to fall out of his mouth. "Look, we've got a mission, Hiei's going with you, easy as pie, just get it taken care of?" he requests, shoving a file in your direction. You notice that he seems that he's going to fall over any time soon, but something tells you that he's got something to do, and he's very busy working on it, and almost done, or he wouldn't have pulled the all-nighter.

"What the hell are you sending me with anyone for? You know I work best alone. According to what I've heard, so does this guy," you say, pointing at Hiei.

"I know, Kali," he answers lightly.

"So what the fuck?" you ask, narrowing your eyes.

"Well, there're actually two missions. Just happen to be close together." He hands Hiei the other file and you look over his shoulder to see an Aztec-looking temple's picture, like in your folder. "You just have to split at the fork in the corridors," he says, ignoring you now and starting to do paperwork again.

You look at the weird kid, who hasn't spared a glance in your direction, and then you look at Botan who is waiting outside. "Botan, portal, please?"

She nods and creates one, then hands you a remote that you can use to make your own back.


	2. Partners Four of them Great

_Partners. Four of them. Great._

He starts running ahead of you, and you take it as a challenge and start running after him, catching up slowly until you're finally tying with him. You start to pass him, but he speeds up, too, falling into your childish competition. You grin at him and pass him, ducking your head and face and bending double, keeping your arms tucked close to your chest as you ran as fast as possible. You make eye contact with the red-eyed oni and you hit the wall that is the fork in the corridor. Lucky for your dignity, so does the other one. You laugh as you bounce off it and hit the floor. He falls backwards, too, feeling very stupid as you both hit the ground, and you both get up, running down the appropriate paths. You start to think aloud.

"He's cool," you mumble. "And he looks good." You run across the wall to avoid the spikes jutting out of the floor, and you reach the jewel on the pedestal. You pick it up and start running back, having to meet with the boy at the fork in the road to take you both back. He gets there at the same time you do. You grin at him and press the remote's button while the temple starts to fall around you. He is scowling at you, and you grin back at him slightly wider and hop through.

"Great work, you two. And since you two didn't get into a fight, my decision has been made!" he says. Both you and the boy twitch and look at him in surprise, looking over your shoulders and quirking eyebrows.

"Decision...?" the manling asks, narrowing his eyes.

"Well, Hiei, you are the one I was worried about her having a problem with, but you two handled working together so well that I've decided already! I was expecting to have to teach you two to get along by sending all of you on a mission together, but this has certainly saved me the work of finding enough missions."

"What the fuck are you talking about?" you demand, turning the rest of the way around and leaving a scuff on the floor with your boot to piss him off for making so little sense. "I never see him anyway, why the fuck would you be worried about us fighting?"

"You're on the team," he says simply, smiling and cracking open a book that he has in his lap.

You're a smart person. You worked really hard to get where you are in Spirit World.

Which made it reasonable when you lunged at his desk, leaning on it with one fist clenched. "WHAT?!" The rage in your throat is making it hard to breathe, and you're debating with yourself if you should throw him into the wall, smash his head into the desk with the available fist, or keep yourself out of prison.

Something he's learned about you in your lifetime of service here is that you utterly despise partners. You don't need help, you have never needed help, and the only thing partners do is get in the way.

"I've made you a member of the group," he answered lightly, looking at you like he is puzzled as to why there is any confusion. Or anger. Because this is about as "angry" as you get. And you're beginning to decide that prison is worth inverting his binky-sucking head. ((This isn't all you're pissed about. He's a pain in the ass in general. But this is kinda pissing you off, waking up to go on a test-mission so you can be teamed up with a bunch of idiots that you're positive you could cremate without even using your feet.))

"Why?!" you demanded, driving your fist into his desk.

"Because I think it would profit you. You need to work with team members, and they need training in battle. And all but Kurama needs a little bit of a boost to the IQ," he answers, starting to stamp his papers again.

"You're shittin' me," you answer, slumping to his floor and sitting on your butt before getting up when Hiei makes a derisive noise at you.

"Hmph. We're supposed to learn from this over-grown child?"

"This over-grown child could kick your ass," both you and Koenma say. Actually, Koenma's words are more like, "That over-grown child has ability that you can only dream of," but it's of the same essence.

Hiei "Hn"'s again and shuts the door. You hear someone mutter something outside, but it's not Hiei's voice. Sounds more like Yusuke's. Apparently, he never went to school and is on his way in here. Or it took you much longer than you thought to get out of the Aztec-looking joint.

"Hello, Yusuke," Koenma says. "Could you do me a favor and go get Kurama and Kuwabara? Or are they still at school?"

"Uh... Sure. ... HEY! Wait a minute! What was Hiei so mad about?"

"I'm only explaining this once more, so I'm going to wait for Kurama and Kuwabara to get here. Kali, don't go anywhere. I'll need you in a few minutes."

"For what?"

"Just stay there."


	3. Odd Introductions

_Odd Introductions_

Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei stand in front of Koenma's desk with Botan over their shoulders like so many times before. You are sitting on Koenma's desk in a blatant show of disrespect, picking small rocks and collections of dried mud out of your boot tread. As it turns out, the school day is almost over by the time you got back from the extra mission of figuring out where the jewels belonged and why they were made and their main purpose.

"What is it, Koenma-sama?" Kurama asks softly after a bit of silence besides the sound of you picking at the sole of your boot.

"Oh, I'm sorry," he says, looking at the boys, distracted from his futile glaring at you. He is probably trying to get you to take your boots off his desk and stop ruining his various pens and making a mess on his desk while you use the pens to clean your very-messy boots.

"Whaddya want, Passy-boy?" Yusuke demands, crossing his arms.

"I want to introduce you to your new team member. Everyone, meet Kali."

They all look at you, and you look at them, and you can almost swear that even Kurama has a look of anger or fear on his face. You narrow your eyes and scuff your boot on Koenma's desk while you're swapping feet. Bastard, who the fuck does he think he is, making you work on a team with four idiots like these? Especially when they seem to be doing all they can to not run and scream like little girls after an assassination attempt.

"Hello, Kali," Kurama says. You wave a dismissive hand. Which is as much a greeting you're going to give him.

Kuwabara walks over and grabs your hand and moves to kiss it, but you jerk your hand back and use it to punch Kuwabara's head into one of your boots, forcing him to kiss it. Then you pick up a pen from "passy-boy"'s desk and use it to get mud all over so it won't write ever again.

You can see the wrinkles forming on Koenma's head and you smirk. "Well. I see that I was wrong when I assumed Hiei would be the other end of trouble," he says. "And for you guys to get to know each other better, I would like it if you would train together. I believe that you have a lot to learn from Kali."

When no one but you moves, Koenma looks slightly worried and glances back up at you again, wincing.

"Isn't Kali the Hindu goddess of destruction?" Kurama asks after a second. You roll your eyes.

"Yes," Koenma says. "So?"

"... Why is she called after the goddess of destruction?"

"Guess, Pretty-boy," Kuwabara says bitterly.

* * *

The portal that Botan is summoning up appeared in the wall and you step through. The others follow one by one, last being Kuwabara, who is whispering into Yusuke's ear as they stepped through together. You hear "she talk?"

Yusuke looks at you, up and down you, then looks back at Kuwabara. "Ask," he says.

Kuwabara, being the idiot he is, walks up to you and almost gets in your face. "Can you talk?"

You look at him like he's mad, then point past him at Kurama and point at the open field. He pulls out his rose and you nod. Then you knock Kuwabara down by elbowing his ear and walk behind Kurama to the field. You know Kurama's fighting style- stall off until he knows what you're going to do, like at the Dark Tournament. You know better than to give him a correct impression. Not that it matters. Your fighting style changes with which person you're fighting. With Kurama, you are going to be quick about it. Get close enough to punch, delude him to thinking you are going for melee combat, and then give him a point-blank ranged attack. You, luckily, know how to make one look like the other.

He extends his whip and you run at him, charging your fist. Right when you get within three feet of him, he attempts to block the physical attack he thinks it coming with his arm, but when you throw the punch, you aim a little to the left and start to step back.

Everyone starts to laugh at you, except Hiei and Kurama, who both know better. Kurama isn't sure what you've done, and Hiei has an idea, but none of them expect the energy to do what it did.

What is originally a ball of energy became a spread out band of it, then it became similar to an ocean's wave, and it struck Kurama's whole side when it revolved around him from your fist to an elliptical circle and hit him.

He's down for the count, you already know. You grin slightly, and pick him up easily and take him over to Yusuke and Kuwabara. Hiei is next. His tactic is "Do what is needed. Always." You know that he'll do what he needs to in order to beat you. Only he has restrictions, this time. No killing, or damaging beyond repair, so he has to be careful with exactly what he does. But you don't know what to do. Your own spirit weapon is basically the energy itself. You have an impossible amount of energy, lots of types of energy, and you can tap into all of it. ((Like, if you had started out at four years old with a Spirit Gun like Yusuke had, you would have had ten bullets about the size of Yusuke's during the Dark tournament, while Yusuke had the one weak-ass shot he had when he first started out. But you have a lot less control. Those ten Spirit Gunshots would leave you lying on the ground, because you can't focus it well enough that it is one simple bullet. Indeed, it's a lot more like a shotgun. Or a .33mm Magnum. Your choice.))

"You don't have a plan," Hiei says with a smirk, not drawing his sword. You could see his fists clenching, and you could smell the fear in him, and the cockiness.

You shake your head, then wait for him to charge at you. While he's approaching you, you let your eyes dart to his face for a second. He looks very determined. You smile, but then your eyes hurt when you try to track his motion optically for too long, so you close your eyes. You manage to hear him just as he gets to you. You hear his front foot ground itself and you rock backwards and to your left, just letting him miss your ribcage and grab his hand/wrist and lock it and twist it, kicking the back of his knees to force him to the ground. You then open your eyes and see his smirking face. He rolls onto his back and kicks at your knee, his arm no longer in danger of breaking, but you release him and jump well over him and away from him and close your eyes again. He runs at you again, but then he jumps and you don't know what's going on. You open your eyes to have a punch crammed into your collarbone. You let your feet fall out from under you while you twist slightly to get the pressure off to keep from breaking it. You know it's bruised, though. You kick his feet out from under him and roll on top of him and try to grapple him until you can get in a good punch, which happens to be his tactic, too. His eyes burn into yours. You feel very... aware, suddenly. You notice every contour of his whole anatomy, the roughness of his hands as they meet your skin in his attempts to get you off, the fascinating color of his skin, and the firmness of every muscle he's putting to use. And his damned bony knuckles. And you feel his face when you punch him, and punching his abs is a lot like punching a rock with a remote amount of give.

He suffers three punches to the ribs, one to his left kidney, and one to the base of his skull before you knock him out, using three pressure points around his mouth. Your forehead is bleeding and you can taste blood from where your teeth hit the inside of your cheek, and your ribs and shoulder hurt. And so does your nose, but that goes away after a few sneezes.

Yusuke is last. Kuwabara's still out cold, and he wouldn't fight you anyway because of his "code".

You actually have a reason for fighting in this order- Kurama would have worked out a tactic if you'd fought him anything but first. Hiei was second because, even though you don't know how to fight him, you knew what he was gonna do. Yusuke is easily the least predictable. His fighting varied on his opponent, and not for tactics. He doesn't have tactics. Closest thing to a tactic he has is "Maybe if I hit him hard enough?" and the fact that, with his limited abilities, he falls into a pattern.

Anyway. Yusuke is last.

"Hope you're ready for the winning streak to end," he says cockily, spitting and rotating his shoulder and loosening his random joints. You lower yourself into your fighting position.

You run at each other, both wanting to make the other react to your actions, and both of you meet fists right between you. Both other hands start a game of "mercy". Neither wins, but Yusuke, when he steps back, is holding his fist that hit yours and glaring at you. "OW! Fuck! That HURT!" he says loudly, shaking his hand. You take this opportunity to get up close and punch his solar plexus. He makes a quiet, distressed noise as all the air in his body is expelled and he falls to his knees. You kick him over the rest of the way and walk over to the others where they are tending their wounds.

"Good run, eh?" you ask.

"She does talk," Kuwabara says as he's looking at Kurama's ribs and sides. It looks as if he's been deeply bruised.

"Very good run," Kurama agrees, looking at you, seemingly mortified.

You get a good look and you can see the bruising and even points at which Kurama is bleeding. "Oh. I'm sorry," you say cheerfully. "I'm no good at healing. I didn't mean to hurt you that bad, anyway. I'll see what I can do, if you'd like," you offer.

"No, thank you," Kurama says quietly, standing up and leaning on Kuwabara. Kuwabara is holding his head, but that's to be expected from being unconscious like that.

You walk over to Hiei and look at him. "Are you hurt?"

He looks at you and narrows his eyes and you glare in return, then help the only real Spirit Detective to his feet. He looks, first, at his bleeding fist, and then he picks up his shirt to see his solar plexus and makes a face. There's a very clear fist-shaped imprint on it.

"Ouch," Yusuke mutters.

You feel slightly guilty, but a portal appears back to the mansion to Koenma's office again. Everyone ((Including you)) is sitting/slumping against something. Kurama's leaning very carefully against a wall on his good shoulder and Kuwabara's whining about his head, Yusuke's continuously shaking his hand and sucking on his bleeding knuckles, and Hiei is showing no sign that you hurt him at all, other than the fact that he is leaning very carefully against the wall. You, however, are bleeding on your arm, from where Kurama did manage to get his whip without you noticing, your forehead is still bleeding, you're still swallowing your bloody spit, and your ribs and shoulder hurt too much to move very much more than walking and, maybe, minimal arm movement.

"Well. I see we've all met each other, then," Koenma says. "You can go to your rooms, except Kurama. Kurama, I'll have some of my healers work on you so you don't have to list to one side during everything you could dream of doing. And your head wound will need bandaging," he says, pointing at you. You nod, but you don't wait for a healer. You go towards the bathroom and clean and dress it yourself, then go back up to your room and sit and stare out the window in a very Hiei-like fashion.


	4. Thinking a Little Too Much

_Thinking a little too Much._

The music playing in your room is loud enough that you can talk aloud to your tape recorder without being heard.

"Koenma has stuck me on that stupid team of idiot boys. Kurama's the only one of decent intelligence, but I don't like him, either. He's annoying, and I can't tell what he's thinking. And I am damn near positive that it's not right, whatever half of it is!" you say into the microphone as you pace the room, tossing your arms. You don't know why, but you've got a lump in your throat, and your goddamned thoughts constantly drift back to the boys.

"Hiei is the best fighter among them, easily, except that he's actually, surprisingly, weak without the use of the Jagan Eye. Or he's hiding something from me, or I'm stronger than I thought. He fist fought me, though I'm still not sure if he was doing that to indulge me, feeling sorry for me, doubting my skill, or simply not wanting to cut me too deeply. He has a katana, and I've seen him use it. He relies heavily on his speed, which is definitely a good thing to rely on, but he isn't nearly as strong as he seems to be without using it. I'm surprised he's even the upper B class he is."

And at the thought of Hiei, your pulse always seems to get faster, and you continuously imagine _touching_ him, feeling his skin against yours again, and you don't know why. You figure it was the fight. That was easily the most fun and most physical contact you've ever had to go through with a fight. You've never been reduced to grappling before. It was, surprisingly, fun.

"Yusuke is second stupidest, and third strongest, mainly because he has very limited skill. Plenty of power, but he doesn't know how to do anything. All he has is his Spirit Gun, and the strength it gives his limbs. That's all I use, but I can do more. He can't."

"And Kuwabara... is slow. The only thing special about him is his spiritual awareness, and that's no help at all, if you ask me. Ghosts are not important unless you're dead."

You sigh a little. A helpless feeling takes hold of your whole chest, and makes you feel very alone and scared.

"And I can't help but think I've taken a liking for them. I hate when I do that. It never ends well. What if something happens to them? Or me?"

* * *

"Are you okay, Kali?" Kurama asks after twenty minutes of silence in the kitchen. Food is being prepared, fried chicken or something, and it is nicer in here than it is in your room. But you don't want Kurama's pity.

"Fine," you answer. "What do you care?" You don't know why you're so hostile, but the stupid detectives' not-so-hidden mistrust is angering you.

"I'm sorry, I was just wondering. You're being awfully quiet is all."

"Well, I'm sorry that I'm not loud enough for you. You hang around with Hiei more than anyone else, what the hell are you worried about quiet for?"

"I apologize," he says quietly, poking at the chicken. He opens the oven to check on whatever's in there. You peek over his shoulder. Brown-and-serve Rolls.

He reaches in and starts to take them out, but he drops three of them. You, without thinking, reach in and grab all three and pull them out, before you hear the sizzling sound and pull your arm away. You put the rolls on the counter, anyway. Yusuke walks in and sniffs the air, then looks at you and Kurama.

"What's that cooking? Not the chicken or rolls, either," he mentions. You look at the rest of the foods, and point.

"Those?"

"Uhh... actually, I think it's your arm."

You blink a little.

"My arm?"

"You burned it in the oven," Kurama mentions, looking at the now-painful-looking burn on your arm.

"Oh. Ouch."

"Are you okay?" Kuwabara asks. ((He followed Yusuke in.))

You shunt away from them and dodge out of the room without another word. You hear someone make an annoyed sound, and bump into Hiei, who shoves you roughly into the door.

You growl at him.

"Nice to see you, too, asshole," you shout at him as he goes into the kitchen.

"Hn," he answers. You flip him off as he goes.


	5. Mistrust

_Mistrust_

You are walking past Koenma's office and you hear your name, so you pause and kneel near the door, putting a piece of paper from your pocket on the floor, so you can say you dropped it and you are picking it up.

"I don't like her. She hurt Kurama that bad during training. I think she might be out to kill us," Kuwabara is murmuring. "That, and when she burned herself, she didn't notice. What if she's a robot, or under mind-control or something?"

"If she was out to kill you, trust me, you'd be dead," Koenma says. "And I've known her for a very long time. She's not a robot, nor under mind control."

"What the hell's up with her? And that name! 'Kali'! A goddess of destruction! What if she's out to ruin us, or you? Her energy signature feels funny, too, and it's so weird. You told us she was human, right? That's not human energy," Yusuke nearly shouts, sounding disgusted. The tones in his voice reek of fear and hate.

"There's nothing else to prove otherwise. She looks completely human and, besides her energy, she shows no trait of demonic powers," Botan answers.

"I must say, she frightens me, too," Kurama says. You're sure he's staring down at the floor. "I doubt her intentions. I sense malice in her, all through her."

No one says anything after Kurama confesses his doubts. You feel the urge to cry and/or burst into the room and beat the hell out of all four of them. No one asked you anything, and they already don't like you! How dare they? You didn't kill them! You hardly hurt any of them! You should go in there and give them all reasons to fear and doubt you! But you don't. You just growl and wish that you could.

"I don't like her," Hiei says. "I don't trust her, either. She is either far too intelligent or stupid for any of us to trust."

"I bet she's gonna kill us all in our sleep!" Kuwabara rages.

You hear a thunking sound that you suspect is a fist to someone's head. "No, you idiot. She won't. She's just gonna... I dunno, kidnap us all and brainwash us or something," Yusuke says. "Use us like all that asshole with the remote control did during the Dark Tournament."

"She knows better," Koenma says. "Other than that, I can't say anything to help you trust her. Leave. I've got important work to do."

You frantically grab the paper on the floor and run as silently as you can down the hall, until you make it to the nearest corner and you put your fist through the wall and start up the stairs, still being as quiet as possible. They don't trust you, huh? Oh well. You don't like them, anyway.

Koenma's voice sounds in the hall. "KALI!"

You growl and start back down the hall, turning on your toes. You pass Kuwabara as you walk past and try to ignore the glare he gives you.

"Stop looking like that, I'm not going to kill you. If I was going to, I would have, yesterday," you mutter. He stops walking for a second, trying to subdue a freaked out shudder and then he starts running madly.

You stand in front of Koenma, glaring at him. "What?"

"Need you to go to work. "

"Good news," you say, relieved to be able to work off some of the tension. He looks at the file, then hands it to you. "We need this guy brought in. He's a little tough- do you think you can handle it?"

You nod, then take the file. A wolf-faced creature with various scars and things on it is what's depicted. A portal appears to your right, and you hop through

* * *

A castle looms over head and you can't help but grin a little. Funfun! You run toward it with little hesitation.

Three lizard-looking guards meet you at the door and point guns at you. You grin. "Aww, you guys make this job so much fun!"

They attempt to shoot you, so you jump into the air and land on their heads, forcing two of them to the ground, out cold or dead, and the third recieves a foot to the jaw that drops him. You run inside.

There are no more guards in the castle. You get slightly worried, but you search well around, until you find a twenty-foot-tall, very very handsome man in one of the rooms.

He stands up and looks down at you. "Hello," he says, looking down at you. "Who are you?"

"Me. You're Segur, no?"

"Very good," he muttered. "Look up at me, if you would, I'd like a better sight of your face."

You instantly look at his feet, focusing hard on them, knowing better than to do as asked. You see the lack of toes and recognize the race as one that can charm you if you look at their eyes. You glance away. The guy you're hunting ((Gaff)) is this guy's half brother. You close the door and turn around and start to leave. He grabs your arm (and half of your whole body in the process) and you kick his knee, but he bends it to avoid the kick, then leans down to your ear and whispers into it "Double-jointed knees, darling. Common trait for my race."

You curse softly and hold still, for a second as he adjusts his hold on you, holding your arms behind your back as he binds them with a rope conjured from his energy, then calls for his brother.

The wolfish demon walks into the doorway and stands there, then looks at you, and grins.

"Oh, shit," you murmur, sighing.


	6. To The Rescue

_To the Rescue_

The monster looks at you and grabs you by the energy rope holding your hands behind your back, then sniffs you, then looks at his brother, apparently puzzled.

"I don't know," he answers, looking at you equally puzzled. "Exactly what breed are you, my dear?"

You, being you, ((who is someone I happen to rule at the moment)) spit on him, trying to keep from looking at his face. He wipes it off and punches you in the abdomen. You kick at him, and he grabs your legs and ties those together as well. "Stop that," he commands. You glare and try to free your hands, but Gaff hits you in the head, knocking you out.

* * *

You wake up with a monstrous headache and what seems to be a chain around your neck, holding you to the wall. Your hands are also bound behind your back, but you can't break them. You feel strangely weak, like you can't move with any of your old strength, like... 

"My energy!" you shout with the surprise of it being gone. "You bastards!" you shriek as loud as possible, hurting your ears in the small room.

You manage to wriggle to get your communicator out of your back pocket. You know you can't fight, so you have to... ugh. You have to ask for help.

Koenma's face appears on the screen. "Hello, Koenma," you mutter, trying your best to hide your bonds.

"Hello. Do you need a portal?"

"No. I need... Um. Help."

"What?!" he demands. He looks away from the screen of his end of the communicator and sees your whole room. You grin at him sheepishly. He makes a loud, distressed sound, then calls for Hiei, since he's apparently the only one that you get along with.

You sit and wait a little while, and then the door opens. Hiei's standing there, looking at you with a look of pure hate in his face.

"Good to see you, too," you mumble. He cuts the bonds around your wrists and ankles, then looks at the leash.

"I don't know what you expect me to do about this."

"You have fire powers, right? Heat 'em up and use it to break the chain," you answer. He looks at you, then shakes his head and reaches over and grabs the lock holding it around your neck and starts trying to break it. It takes a minute, but it snaps in his hand, freeing you. You stand up, but a wave of dizziness hits you, and you stagger to the next wall, using an arm to hold you up.

"Can you fight?" he demands.

"No. I think they took my energy, and I've only got a little left. Did you kill Gaff or Segur?"

"Neither. Koenma gave me direct orders not to."

You look at the wall, then at the demon, and stand upright, flexing your fingers a little and listening to the joints pop. He smirks slightly and you leave the room, starting to run. He follows you. You're not racing, this time, and he's hardly jogging to keep up with you. ((You don't have the speed from before since you're not jacking anything up with your energy)).

You eventually find Gaff, though you're heaving for breath and having to lean on your knees to stay upright. He looks at you, then at Hiei, and then at you again. You charge your fist with energy and hold the ball of it in your hand, though it's glowing very dimly, and seems ready to flicker out.

"You're under arrest. Come quietly, and I promise I won't kill your face off," you say, trying to ignore the dizziness that hits you harder than a ton of bricks. Hiei stands beside you, almost touching your arm. Gaff starts to laugh, but you jump at him and force the collected energy in your fist into his head and he falls down, out cold. You pull out the small glass jars that Koenma gives you in which to collect the bad guys, and you uncork it and point it at him. It slowly starts to suck him in, and when he's finally all in the jar, you sit down and rest a second, rubbing your legs and arms. "Fuck. I hate doing that."

"What made that so difficult?" Hiei asked derisively, looking at you.

"Energy. Have to use it to collect them. Otherwise, they're just stupid jars," you say, holding it up. "Do you mind holding this? It's still as heavy as him, and I think I'll collect Segur while I'm here," you say, standing back up. You don't think you actually have the energy for it, but you aren't about to look weak in front of someone who already knows your strength.

You feel a sweat collect on your jaw line and you start moving to what you think is the right direction. Which also happens to be towards the exit.

But you do see Segur, eventually, in the room you'd found him in previously. He's holding a very large, glowing reddish-blackish-greenish-bluish ball of energy and it's slowly shrinking. You recognize the ball of energy to be your own. You punch him out of the way and grab the ball, and it instantly goes back into you, leaving you dizzy and very refreshed. You have to kneel to keep upright at all through the strange pain that it's putting you through, rushing through you like electricity. He staggers when you take the ball and looks at you and smiles. "You're no human, just so you know. Your energy is too sweet," he says. You growl and punch him again and pull out another jar, but you look at his eyes and you start to feel an egging in your brain. You close your eyes immediately and hold the jar out at him, but he grabs the jar and your hand and he steps up close to you, and putting his face next to yours. He stands a little bit taller than you do, but he is bent down to your face. You feel his lips press to yours. You tear away from him, glance at him to get his position, and you punch him again, pulling him into the jar faster. Once sucked in, he stands in it calmly, looking at you triumphantly. You shake the jar, making him fall, and then you pull out your communicator. Hiei passes you the other guy's jar and looks sternly at you. You feel odd, and you step toward him, feeling strangely attracted to him, wanting nothing but to kiss him and feel him against you, and you pull him into a kiss. You're slightly clumsy with kisses, but he doesn't fight much. Doesn't give you one back, though. You pull away when you realize what you're doing, then you look at Segur.

"You bastard! What did you do to me?!" you scream at him. He grins and shrugs with a mock innocence. You shake him madly, then look at the communicator. "Portal! NOW!" A slight probing in your mind pesters you, but you don't bother to shunt it out. You suppose that it's Hiei, and you can't really blame him for wanting to take a look in your head.

You land in Koenma's office after going through the portal, and you hand the jars to him. He looks at them and smiles a little, then dismisses you. You feel the need to punch him in the face, but you don't.

* * *

You go to the living room and sit down, watching Yusuke and Kuwabara play video games. Kurama's reading a book, but you don't care enough to look and see what the title is or anything. You recognize the game as Tekken Tag, though, and you grab the controller from Kuwabara as he lost for the... according to the game currently twelveth time, but you're sure the game's been reset at least once.

"Alright, lemme at'im," you say, picking your oh-so-well-mastered team of Nina and Hwoarang and commence to kicking Yusuke's ass all too easily.

After a few times, Yusuke looks at you hard and doesn't say anything for a while. You look at him and grin. Kurama's looking at you, too, and he's smiling.

"That's most impressive," Kurama says. "I don't think anyone's beaten Yusuke with a "Perfect" before. I commend you."

"Thank you," you answer, trying to keep from looking smug. Too much.

"How the hell did you do that?" Yusuke asks. "You didn't even use one move over and over again like Kuwabara does when he manages to beat me."

"Nina can parry, reverse, or side-step any move at all. Even punches. In fact, she's the only one who _can_ reverse a punch. And Hwoarang just kicks ass. He has three combos that I can enter in half a second," you say proudly, handing the controller back to Kuwabara. He looks at you like you're some sort of goddess. "I prefer real fighting, but this is fine."

"Hm. You can't fight for shit without your energy," Hiei snorts as he walks inside and sits on the window sill, looking over Kurama's shoulder at you. You feel the odd urge to go kiss him again, but you shunt it out of your mind and leave the room, going upstairs to your room. You look at the bookshelves on the wall, looking for the demon encyclopedia you have on the Sindra-Cloran race ((Segur's, if you hadn't guessed.)).

It takes nearly an hour of reading, but you find what you're looking for, finally. "Not only do they have the ability to charm anyone who gazes into their eyes for but a few seconds, but their kiss contains a curse that will force them to fall in terrible lust with the first person they see, regardless of sex, race, species, age, or relation," you read. You stare at the words for a second, then punch the wall as hard as you can, forcing your fist through it. "Shit. Removal of the curse and spell is identical, but to remove both must be done at separate times. The act of the removal is extremely difficult and precise and takes skill."

You feel a pang of fear at the mention of this, knowing that you are, ultimately, fucked. "The removal has to be done by someone other than the victim severing the victim's energy from the energy planted by the kiss or gaze. The victim's energy usually must be sucked out, removed, or otherwise put away to make the finding of the energy in the mind easier. This also must be done quickly, before the victim becomes dependant on the energy."

You scowl and stare at the pages like they've done something wrong to you, then you close the book and reluctantly walk down to Koenma's office and walk inside. He's talking to someone you don't recognize, but you send them out with a little push of energy. "Koenma, I'm afraid I have a problem," you say after a bit of silence.

"What is it?"

"I'm... I'm under a curse, someone else has to fix it."

"What?!"

"Segur is a Sindra-Cloran ((Just in case you were wondering, I made that up.)) and he kissed me when I was trying to avoid looking at him," you growl. Koenma looks at you sternly.

"Do you know how to fix it?"

"Well, I can't do it. Apparently, energy is transferred during the kiss, and it has, um... it's jammed itself in my head. And someone needs to cut it out of there before I get dependent on it."

"What are the affects of the curse?" he asks, looking through a book.

You stare at the floor hard. Is it necessary to tell him? ... Yeah, you finally decide. You have to tell him so he won't use Hiei to get it out.

"I'minlustwithHiei," you say quietly. He (Somehow) manages to hear you and looks at you, trying to make sure that you're not joking. You're still staring at the floor, wishing the heat in your face would go away.

Then he starts to laugh. You feel your rage bubble up and punch him in the head. "It's NOT MY FAULT!" you shriek. He holds his head, rubbing the new knot and stops laughing.

"I'm sorry!" he yelps. "And if you do that again, I'm sending you to get spankings!"

You hold your fist to your side and sit on the floor. "Just tell someone to help me. Or tell me who can help me."

He nods, then looks through the book, then finally grins at you.

"If it's Hiei, find another one. I don't want him probing my mind."

"Well all that's left are a few of my overlords, and I can't tell them to do anything. You'll just have to go plead your case. I don't have many psychics of that particular brand in my office at hand."

You nod, then leave. He throws a book at you on your way out, and it hits your shoulder, a glancing blow, but you shrug it off and start going to where you know to be his superintendent's office and knock on the door gently.


	7. Still Need Help

_Still Need Help_

"Come in!" the voice calls. You step inside and see a woman sitting at a desk, flipping pages through a book. She looks up at you and makes a slightly disdainful face.

"You. I've heard of you. Why are you here?" she demands, starting to glare.

"I need help, Ma'am," you say, bowing a little bit and keeping your voice low, trying your best to be submissive (and having a bit of trouble.) ((Oh, my gods, do you have any idea what it's like to know you're smarter than someone and still have to be as submissive as possible? It's HARD.))

"What do you need help with?"

"I'm under a curse, Ma'am, and I can't undo it myself. I need someone else to help me with it, but the only one of my co-workers that can help me with it can't."

"What?"

"I was kissed by a Sindra-Cloran. The curse made me fall in lust with the-"

"First person you saw, I know," she answered. "Why is this a problem?"

"Well, one, the first person I saw is a co-worker who probably won't appreciate me being obsessed with him and kissing him every time I see him in the doorway. And for another... Well... Who needs love?"

She nods, then walked over to you. You keep your face down in an attempt to stay humble.

She starts to laugh a little. You look up at her to see her grinning almost maliciously at you, and you start to get offended, but then she puts a hand on your face as a gesture of comfort, then goes back to her seat. "I will help you," she says, picking her book back up. "But I can't help you today. You've got to figure out how to move your energy. And close off the part of your mind that isn't in lust."

You nod, then start to leave. You hear her laughing when you close the door, but you start running anyway, feeling the heat rise in your face. Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit, shimatta, shimatta, shit, shit, shit!

* * *

The next week, you're standing in the office with two people, the woman you asked for help and another who is, apparently, going to suck the energy out of you.

"Hold very still for me," the man says, walking toward you and putting a hand to your throat. You feel your energy start to leave you and you start to feel the icy fist of fear grip your stomach. The vulnerability is something you don't welcome, but it forces itself on you anyway.

The energy you're lacking is bringing you to your knees, until you finally have to kneel and breathe. "Da... Stop..." you sputter.

The woman laughs a little bit, and you feel a probing in your mind, and you almost shut it out before you remember that she's helping you get rid of the urge to rape Hiei every time you see him. But then you feel the Sindra-Cloran energy gone, but she's still poking around in your mind, apparently lost. The man, you notice, is still draining your energy. You try to slap his arm away, but you find it hard to collect the strength in even your fingers. You fall the rest of the way to the floor, and the room around you starts to fade to black, even as you try to focus.

The feeling of being high starts to haunt you. Your vision swims and you are unsure if anything around you is really happening, like you're dreaming.

Then you enter a sleep-like phase, almost asleep but very vaguely aware of what's happening to you. You feel something pick you up and carrying you, and someone's talking near you. You don't see and hear it as much as you feel it. Even the words, the vibrations bounce off you and tingle. After what seems like forever, you are placed in a small cage or tank or container or something, a place that you have to curl up on your side to fit into while laying down; then you feel dozens of needles driving into your flesh and staying for a second, then moving, then more and more and more of them. You try to scream, but you can't force your muscles to let you force the air through your throat that quickly. You want to sleep, but you can't manage it.

"Some... one... help... me... " you finally whisper. You don't think anyone hears you.

After all these sensations fade, you feel your energy start to return to you, and you can move again, and your awareness returns. But you start to wish it hadn't. You look around to see that you're in a ceiling-height glass tank, and there are lots and lots of wires coming out of your skin. You look hard outside the glass and see the woman standing there, smirking and starting to laugh.


	8. NOT an Experiment

_NOT an Experiment_

You look at the woman in front of you, and then slam your fists against the glass, lunging forward. All that happens, unfortunately, is that the glass hurts your fists.

"Bitch!" you shriek.

"Careful," she answers, touching the glass gently with her fingertips. "I wouldn't piss off my captors if I were you."

"Well you're NOT me!" you scream. "LET ME GO! I'M NOT AN EXPERIMENT!" you roar, pounding the glass harder and harder.

"No. You're not," the man answers with a cruel smile. "You're a study subject."

"I should have known," you sputter, sitting down, staring at the wall. Silence passes for an instant, and then you feel an intense burning in your flesh, seeming to wrench off your skin and apply salt and lemon juice to the exposed meat. The pain is unbearable, and you start to scream and flail, struggling to get the invisible source of torture away from you. It's blinding you and you can't make it stop. You fight the natural urge to writhe and wriggle and kick and scream, but it fails horribly. All thoughts fade from your mind, and you can't focus on anything, and all that does float through your head consists mostly of "ohmygodithurtsmakeitstoppleasemakeitstopithurtsithurtsithurts!" until it finally stops. You lay on the floor, heaving for breath, wishing the memory of the pain would fade.

"Oh, oh, oh," is all you can manage to say. "Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!"

"What did it do?"

"Her energy boosted. Not much, but enough to be significant," someone else answers.

"Ah. Where's the DNA?"

"We're still processing it, sir."

The man nods and walks up to you. "Hello," he says. "Could you help us out? Tell me, my dear, what would make you angry, or sad?"

You glare at him, and you want to spit on him, but the fact that there's a wall between you prevents this. So you kick the wall between you and startle him into backing up.

The man looks at you, then at the woman. "Just do it the easy way," he says. "I don't think she can shut you out entirely."

The probing in your mind starts, but you try to ignore it, closing your eyes and focusing on shutting it out, but the shock or burning or whatever that is has left your mind in a state of confused weakness. It's still to hard to focus beyond "break the glass, kill them, make them bleed, saw their legs off!"

You start to dream, you think. Except you can feel the dreams, like normal, but... It's like you've just woken up from a dream, because you can't remember anything of what was happening before. But... ... What?

You look around and see your adoptive family being picked up by Gaff and being torn apart slowly, fingers, toes, hands, feet, arms, and legs and when you start to get up to help them, you can't move at all to save them. Your brother looks at you with a face of rage and screams ear-splittingly at you "YOU BITCH! YOU DID THIS TO US!" he screams. Your mom is too busy screaming in pain to agree. You start to shriek and you try to pull against whatever's holding you, but the vision stops and you sit up, feeling tears running down your face and sweat running across your brow, tickling unpleasantly.

"Oh... god...!" you cough, staring blankly ahead, wondering if that was real.

"Your energy reacts more to the pain than that," he answered. You feel rage build up in your chest and you punch the glass as hard at you can. It doesn't even crack.

"I'll... Oh, you... I'll kill you!" you shriek. "Was that real?!"

"Possibly," he answers, glaring at you. "And just how do you intend to kill me? You can't get free."

You scream again, and start to pound on the glass, but the pain you felt before strikes again, the blinding pain coursing through all of your limbs and body, forcing you to your knees. You clutch at the wires, scratching at the skin they'd been injected into, feelings the blood beginning to go down your arms. The blood feels nice, you think, all goopy and warm and sticky. Much better than the stupid burny thing.

The pain stops and you collapse to the floor, struggling to breathe. "Ffffuck," you growl, standing up. The confusion rocks through your mind even more.

"Another act like that, and we won't stop."

You're too busy sweating, practicing your obscenity, and trying to stop crying to answer with what you want to sound defiant and tough. No one would believe any sort of act while you are red-faced and weeping like a little girl.

"We're going to do a little experiment, alright, dear? We're going to fill that tank with a certain kind of air, and we want you to try to shoot a Spirit gun shot, alright?"

"Make me," you growl, still rubbing your eyes.

The pain starts again and you unwillingly arch your back and thrash on the floor, kicking at the glass. "ALRIGHT! ALRIGHT, I GIVE UP, PLEASE STOP!" you scream.

The pain lasts for a second more, and then stops. You collapse onto the floor and breathe very slowly.

"Do it for us," one says. You sniff the air, and feel a little bit dizzy, and you have to hold your breath to make it stop.

You try to focus to shoot, but you have to start breathing through what's left of your shirt, before you can shoot it.

The blast, you see, moves a lot slower, and eventually halts in the air, just hanging there. You sit up and touch it, and it goes right back into you.

You hear them taking notes and start feeling dizzier and weaker. You have to lay down on the floor and close your eyes, trying to breathe as little as possible.

"Very good," one says. Air starts creeping back into your lungs. You breathe deeply and wriggle slightly on the floor until you get up.

"Assholes," you mutter, breathing as deeply as you can.

"This time, we're going to fill it with another one, but all we need is for you to breathe it in, alright, and we'll see how it affects your energy."

"If... I get... cancer... from this... I'llllllllll..." Your ability to talk suddenly goes away while you struggle to catch your breath. They weren't putting any more in it, they were sucking the air out. You feel like you're being squeezed and you make a strange sound as the air is sucked out of you. It stops for after a second, and the air rushes back into the room. You lay still.

"P...Pricks..." you wheeze as you suck for air and fight the urge to weep.

"You're doing marvelously. Most of the time, our subjects are never so pleasant and as responsive."

"I'm just... trying... to breathe..."

"Poor baby, she can't move too well. Are you getting weaker, or can you just not move?" someone else inquires. You glare in the voice's direction.

"I can't move... Muscles... oxygen... Help me..." you whisper, seeing odd shapes in front of you. "Please, stop... lemme... go... home..."

You pass out for a minute, but they wake you up again. You reflexively punch the glass, screaming in pain. You thrash some more and weep, but then they stop, and you lay on the floor some more, attempting to drag yourself to your feet.

"Please stop," you finally beg.

"It's alright, you'll be fine. Your pain will end."

"Gonna kill me?" you ask, looking up at him. You see your reflection in the glass and wince. You look terrible, and you hate that these people are getting the honor of seeing you like this.

"Of course not," he says, smiling and tapping the tank.

You sit back down.

"Could you just surge your power as well as you can?" one asks. "Is that possible?"

"No," you answer.

"Could you put all the energy you can into one limb?" a second one asks. You sigh tiredly.

"I want to sleep. Can I sleep instead?"

A zap hits you, very briefly, and you twitch violently. "ALRIGHT!" you shout with shaking breath. You start forcing all the energy you can control into your right arm. At first, it only gets warm, as usual, but then it starts to ache. You stop, but another zap hits you, and you keep going. ((This is out of my nature, but I have a mental disorder that forbids me to give in to direct orders even under threat of everlasting pain and suffering. I assume that a majority of my readers does not suffer from this, and I am, therefore, making her give in.)) Slowly but surely, your arm begins to swell, and ache, and get bigger. You try to focus on the wall behind the glass, but the pain in your arm is distracting.

"It huuurrrts!" you groan.

"We know."

"Can I stop?"

"Not yet, darling, we want to see what happens, and it will be easier to measure it."

You keep going, then throw a punch at the glass with your not-swollen arm. It cracks, but it doesn't break. The electricity/burny thing hits you again, harder than before.

Your arm burns and aches, and continues to swell. Even you didn't know you could do this, but you don't like it. "Ouch," you growl. "It's really hurting, and my bicep is probably never going to be the same."

"Neither is your tricep," one answers. "Or anything else on your arm."

"Agh. Damn," you growl. You can't push any more energy into it, but it doesn't matter, because you couldn't move your arm if you tried, you're sure.

But despite your thoughts, one taps the glass. "Move your arm, please."

"I don't think I can."

"Wiggle your fingers."

You have to try through the pain in your muscles to go ahead and wriggle your fingers, then rotate your wrist and forearm, then pick it up at the elbow, but when you attempt to move it at your shoulder, your shoulder and back muscles aren't strong enough to move the new, heavy extension of it.

"Stand up, please."

"I'll list to one side," you inform them, getting up and listing, nearly falling over, as you predicted. You sit back down and let your energy flow back to the rest of you, all too happily, but you're still not breathing too well. Another gas enters the chamber, and you accidentally get too much of a lungful before you have to curl up. "AAGH! STOP! I'm gonna die!"

"You exaggerate."

"I'm gonna fuckin' puke my esophagus up!" you growl, punching the weak glass again, but it holds. The gas leaves the chamber quickly.

"Alright, my dear. Do you want another vision, or would you rather have another one of those shocks?"

You want to pick your head up and look out at him, but you can't gather the strength. "I'll take another vision."

You start to dream again, feeling everything around you fade, and you see... Hiei? He approaches you and pulls you into his arms, pressing his lips to yours and starting to kiss you deeply. You pull him closer to you, and you realize that neither of you are wearing anything, but then the dream starts to fade.

"What's her energy done?"

"... It's gone up. That's different from everyone else we've done that to," a voice answers.

"Alright. How was that, my dear? Another vision, or a another shock?"

"How about another vision, please, with a side of fries," you joke quietly, trying to ignore the sudden fear you felt as the words fled your mouth.

Very hushed laughter sounds through the place, and you grin slightly.

The shock goes through you again, and you collapse back to the floor, laying on your back. You press your feet to the wall-thing and push your back against the opposite wall, screwing your eyes shut.

The pain starts to... it stops hurting and starts to tickle slightly, or numb you. You don't feel it as pain anymore. You stand up and look around. The feeling is, again, like being high. You're tingling, like your body is asleep, and you can't focus as well as before. Someone looks at the moniter. "What's happening? Her energy... it's... It's leaving. Going all the way down."

"No it's not!! Look! Holy shit, it's sky-rocketed! The machines can't read it anymore!"

You start to laugh, then, and you punch the glass again, breaking the whole wall of glass around you. You start tearing the wires out of your skin. It hurts like hell, but the pain of the electric shock starts to fade, and the warmth of the blood is comforting.

Everything gets hazy, and you feel lots of pain in your fists, face, arms, legs, torso, et cetera, but when it all stops, you stop and you collapse to the ground, falling into the void of sleep. The last thing you hear is, "What the fuck?" in a whispering voice, and the last thing you acknowledge at all is someone picking you up.


	9. Finding Out

_Finding Out_

You see three pairs of eyes, one green, one purple, and one brown, looking down at you. You punch at the brown pair to get them out of your face, and the other two jump away. You sit up and look at yourself to see you're covered in bandages, and very very sore. Your right arm doesn't seem to want to move very well at all, as a matter of fact. Wiggling your fingers is slightly more difficult for you than it was the last time you were conscious.

"Ouch?" you suggest, moving the blanket. Your shirt is missing, but the bandages are over your whole upper torso, so you don't mind. Your jeans have little slits in them, all the way up to your upper thighs, and you can see bandages under them. You look at the boys, then get up and go over to your dresser and pull on your clothes, hardly minding Koenma, Yusuke, and Kurama. "Ouch," you confirm, finally, as you sit back down and put your hand to your head in an attempt to place the pain. "What happened?"

"You were kidnapped," one of them says. By voice, you'd guess it was Kurama.

"I remember THAT part. I meant 'how did I end up here?'!"

"Oh. We carried you," Yusuke answers in a low voice.

"When we got there," Kurama mentions, "you were out cold on the ground, and everyone else there was dead or unconscious. It was quite a mess."

You look at him, then at the other two and smile a little.

"Did I leave anything upright?"

"No. But the woman you'd gone to for help had a piece of paper in her hand. Says, that you're no human, as we had thought," Koenma answers bleakly. "You're lucky that she survived, or you would be in a lot of trouble with the whole of Spirit World.

"What breed of demon am I?" you inquire. You want to ask why you'd be in trouble for killing someone you suspect was going to kill you, but you bite your tongue to quiet yourself.

Koenma looks at the sheet, then at you, then at the paper again. The pacifier in his mouth drops a little bit, but it pops back into place before he just pushes the sheet at you. "Here- the DNA sheet."

You take the paper, glance at it, and start to stare at it, unable to peel your eyes away. There has to be every breed of demon on that list! You read over it again, then you look at your reflection, and back at it.

"But I look human."

"All of these creatures have at least one human trait. You have all of them."

"That's... in-fucking-sane," you mumble. "I'm that badly mixed?"

"Yep," Botan declares chipperly from your doorway. "Everything is there. Except Hiei."

"What?"

"Koorime and Hinote are missing from that list," she clarifies, grinning in a way that you feel the strangest wont to go hit her.

"Those are Hiei's," Kurama agrees quietly. You look up at him and snort a little, then get up and start downstairs, leaving them all where they stand. You're hungry.

* * *

Hiei is the only one in the kitchen when you get down there. He's eating his lunch of a piece of raw-looking steak. You look at it and realize just how hungry you are when your stomach makes a loud irritating noise. He glances at you, then goes back to eating. 

"They're on the counter," he states. You avert your eyes to the counter and spot them, and automatically grab two of the bigger ones and head outside to the grill. It's still hot from where the others have been cooking, you guess. You put the steaks on it and stretch a little, then go back inside and settle into the seat.

"Hello, Hiei," you say quietly. He looks at you, then back at his food and goes back to shredding it with his teeth. You smirk slightly, and try to not laugh at how child-like he looks.

He sees your smirk and "Hn"'s at you before continuing his work. The blood left in the meat gets on his fingers, and you are tempted to go lick it off, but you go to check on your own steak on the grill, poking at them with the fork. They sizzle.

While you're out there, waiting for it to cook, you realize that you were just wanting to go lick Hiei's hands.

"I am not a dog," you mutter. "Why the hell would I want to do that? I got rid of that curse."

Unless it was already there, your brain hisses coldly. You're hot for him anyway.

"Oh, shut up," you growl, looking at your steaks again. "Hurry up, you bastard," you growl, narrowing your eyes at it. "Please."

"Talking at it isn't going to make it better," Botan singsongs from behind you.

"You've been there the whole time I have, haven't you?" you snarl over your shoulder.

"Someone's still suffering from that little curse?" Botan suggests teasingly, hanging off your shoulder.

"I am not," you growl. "They got rid of it. I'd be a tainted subject if I was still cursed."

"So it's a self-induced curse?" she teased, playing with your hair. p You shrug her off more violently than you mean to. "Get back, or it'll be your head on the grill!"

The two of you stand there for a while, and you finally sit down on the ground. "You're annoying, Reaper, you know that?"

"I am not! You just don't like the truth!"

"There was no truth at all in what you said!"

"There was so! You love him!"

"I do NOT!"

"You're hot for his body, now admit it!"

"I am NOT!" you shout, stomping your foot angrily. "Stupid bitch, I am not!"

"Then why are you getting so angry?"

"Because I just woke up after what can only have been hours of torture, and I'm being accused of loving the hardest hard-ass in any of the three worlds!"

"But you do want to sleep with him. I saw you two fighting. Rolling around on the ground like that, that i had /i to do something for you!"

"No, no it didn't," you snap, baring your teeth at the blue haired woman until she backs away and sits back down on her lawn chair. You keep going on and on about how stupid nosy bitches spreading lies should die, particularly aiming to scare her. It works for a little while. Then she gets tired of being quiet.

"Why don't you love him?"

"Are you shittin' me? I barely know him. I haven't even known him a conscious week, woman, what the hell's your problem?"

"Check on your steaks. Calm down, dear, I won't tell anyone."

"Go fuck Koenma, get out of my hair."

You swear you can _hear_ her hair bristle, and she stomps away.

* * *

You poke at the steaks idly and get impatient and pull one of them off. Very rare. Still pink on the outside, browning on the bottom. You take a bite and begin chewing on one, gnawing and pulling at it with your teeth as you go back inside and sit down.

"Did you hear?" you ask Hiei lightly. You don't know why you're reporting it, but you are.

"Hear what?" he ... well, it's not a question, by the way his voice moves, but it was supposed to be. He has a very very very bored, or annoyed, tone, but you choose to ignore it and go ahead and tell him anyway.

"I'm a demon."

"Don't look like any demon I've seen," he responds, giving you a once over, focusing particularly hard on your mouth, fingers, forehead, eyes, ears, and hair.

"We think that's because I'm a mixed breed. They all have human traits, at least one, and I picked them all up."

"Which demons?" He looks slightly more interested, now. Or not as pissed/bored.

"Everything."

He looks back up at you, narrowing his eyes, then goes back to his food. "Impossible."

"Why?"

"Do you know how many thousands of years that would take, and how likely that would be to happen?"

"I know. But DNA doesn't lie. Everything but you," you answer pleasantly, ripping off a good bit of meat and chewing it.

"What?"

"I'm every demon in existence except for Koorime and Hinote."

He pauses again, then snorts. "Hn."

"Shut up," you answer. He gets up and starts to leave, then pauses for a second. You see his hair bristling a little, but he doesn't linger long. You stare at him as he goes, but he leaves your sight as Kurama comes into the room.

"Koenma would like to see you. You may eat along the way," he says, eyeing the bleeding steak in your fingers and teeth. You nod and rip off another shred of it, enjoying the way your teeth sink right into it.


	10. Hiei and Yusuke

_Hiei and Yusuke_

"What do you need, Koenma?" you ask through a mouthful of half-masticated cow. ((I love that word, "masticate". It's so much fun to shout to someone who knows what it means in a crowded place, "What do you think about when you masticate?" and they say something like "Mmmmm... Turkey" or "Dogs". \/))

"There's something I'd like you to look at," he says, pushing a book toward you, pointing at a particular paragraph.

"And there will be two Heirs of Demons, demons of all kinds of the planet with the most awesome power that may even be conceived, and they will alter the order of the worlds and clear it of its impurities," you read aloud. You look at him.

"It shouldn't be possible for someone like you to exist. You are almost definitely the only one of your kind. 'Demons of all kinds of the planet'. A mixed breed demon, a mix of all of them. 'Most awesome power'. Ring any bells?"

"So?"

"So it sounds like these demons will be your children or your grandchildren," Botan says cheerfully. "Which means that the other half of your offsprings' gene pool will be a Koorime, not likely, or a Hinote, or--"

"Don't even say it," you threaten, no longer chewing on your steak, having swallowed the bit you had in your mouth in surprise. "Don't even i dare /i ."

"Why not?"

"It's not true. It's not true," you say, reiterating yourself with different tones as you sit heavily on your chair, staring at Koenma's desk heatedly. You wish you could burn holes into it, but the mixedness of your breeds actually makes it difficult to use anything but your spirit energy. Then his desk explodes violently and the different parts hit the walls or floor violently. You smirk slightly, watching the papers flutter around wildly, using the opportunity to leave. You feel the heat in your face from where your pulse is moving faster than normal.

You aren't gonna have children. You swore that to yourself the instant you learned you were put up for adoption, even though you were only three. You aren't ever having children. Especially with Hiei, no matter what those idiots think. Yeah, he's cool and he looks pretty good, but... No! Hell fucking cat shit NO!

"Are you okay?" Kurama asks from somewhere behind you.

"No. No, I'm not," you answer. "I'm going home, call me if you need me."

* * *

Home feels better. No one is in when you get there. It is very quiet. Ender is probably out flirting, and your mom is probably shopping. You only go to the house every once in a while, but right now, no one needs you in Spirit World, so you head to your room and fall on your bed, pressing your face on it. The three snakes that you keep in your room slid onto your bed and onto you, wrapping around your neck and wrist and upper-arm. You pet them gently and look at the one you've had longest. Her name is Aga.

"Hello," you say.

Hello, she answers. Troubled? You kiss her nose, thinking about something you read. Oh, Darling, you always notice the little things about me.

"Koenma says it's prophesied that I'm gonna have children. And the potential father is someone I work with," you answer. "Or, at least, Botan suggested it. I wouldn't have thought of it without the hanging sentence she'd let out of her mouth."

Hiei.

"Very good," you answer. "How'd you know?"

Silly child, I went to the tournament with you. You would have dismissed it as stupid or ridiculous and ignored it if it was someone that you admired a little less.

You look at her hard, but she slides with her snaky body around your neck to your waist and looking at you. I wouldn't worry. He would be a good father. He takes care of what he feels is important. Very loyal, very strong. Look at how he defends his sister.

"You've been hiding out at work, haven't you?" you demand. She flicks her tongue out at you. You pet her again, then pull the other two gently away from you. You decide to trust her judgment. But... Like hell he'd ever have sex with me, anyway, you think. And what are the odds that it's talking about you? If you could wind up with all those bloods, why couldn't someone else?

Even as you tried to convince yourself differently, the ever-annoying logic plagued your mind. The odds of anyone else being as mixed as you are zero to nothing. Hell, the odds of _you_ being as mixed as you is zero to nothing. There are so many breeds, and between getting to conception age, finding the mate, having the kid, and that kid getting up to so old without being killed... And _then_ there's the fact that a mating between a Koorime and Hinote is not the only forbidden union of the whole of the Makai, so one of your ancestors has to have been forbidden...

You shudder a little bit and sigh. They're fucking right. I hate it when they're fucking right. The solution I find is always the painful one.

* * *

You go to your bridge, resting on the railroad tracks, poking at the fire you're making down there. Footsteps sound on the rocks down the tracks, and you look up to see Yusuke.

"Hello, Yusuke," you say. You remember that he still doesn't trust you, but you'll try to be nice.

"Yo," he answers. Aga slithers off your neck, and slides over to Yusuke and starts up his leg. He starts to scream like a child and freezes. "OH GOD GET IT OFF!" he shrieks.

You laugh and walk over, pulling the snake off his leg and putting her back around your neck. "Aga, if you wanted a better look, you could have asked," you say, looking at him cheerfully. "Yusuke, Aga. Aga, Yusuke. Forgive each other, neither knew better," you say gently, petting her head and grinning at Yusuke.

"Eeeagh," he answers. You gesture at the place near your fire and walk over yourself and sit down, poking at it again and settling. He sits across from you.

"Kurama said somethin' was buggin' ya," he says, looking at you carefully.

"Nah. Just slightly freaked out," you answer, rubbing your nose.

"About?"

"Suggested that I was gonna have children, for one."

"And for two?" he asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Hiei," you answer, "is supposedly the other half of my children's gene pool. It was suggested, anyway."

He starts to laugh, and you feel your face burn. "Not funny. The only reason that's said at all is because they're supposed to be an incarnation of every breed, and Hiei's the only Koorime and Hinote mix I've ever heard of!" you say. "Unless you know another one?"

He shakes his head, but stops laughing. "So where does it say this?"

"Koenma's book of prophecies," you grumble glumly. He chuckles a little.

"Count on Binky-breath to ruin the day, huh?" he jokes. You suddenly feel a lot more welcomed by him.

"Yeah," you say, laughing a little. "You trust me, yet?"

"Yeah, actually, I do," he responds. "Anyone who has played Tekken long enough to master Nina that well can't be all bad. Means you don't spend all your time busy doing illegal things."

"Yeah, my older brother's really good at that game. He's the only one who's ever beat me," you say, smiling cheerfully. "And even then, I kick his ass if he happens to pick the wrong order."

"Really? I wish I had a brother that could beat me. Kuwabara sucks at that game."

"What doesn't Kuwabara suck at?" you challenge playfully, leaning back on your hands and crossing your legs.

"Sucking," Yusuke responds, laughing.

"He sucks like a vacuum cleaner!"

"He sucks like a fat kid on a slurpee!"

"He sucks like a Vegas hooker on blow!"

You both start to laugh, rocking back on your back and staying there a minute before you get upright again. Aga even agrees with you, hissing into your ear.

He sits back up and looks at you. "You're not bad. Can I meet Aga, now that I'm not afraid that he or she's gonna kill me?" he asks. You take the snake, who is curled up like an odd necklace, and hand her to him. He looks at her, and she starts to snake around his arm, up to his neck.

"She likes you," you explain. He looks slightly freaked out, but he starts to laugh.

"She starts to tickle when she moves across like that!"

"You'll get used to it in a second, kinda like when your body's asleep."

He goes cross-eyed to look at Aga, who is now on his neck like she was on yours a little while ago, and stands up, looking across at you. You start to walk down the tracks, and he starts to follow. The fire would burn itself out.

"So what's so bad about Hiei being your future husband?" Yusuke finally asks.

"Nothing, really. I just thought it was stupid that someone as cold as him could be anyone's father at all. Or that I could fall in love with someone, which is what it would take to get me to play Heat the Sheets with anyone," you say. "Who needs love?"

"Everyone," Yusuke answers, surprising you. You swing your gaze to him and look hard at him, and you feel your mouth hanging open.

"Funny, Yusuke," you answer.

"I mean it. Everyone needs love. I feel kinda dumb sayin' it, but that's what gives me my power. When my strength fails, that's all I gotta think about, the people who I'd hurt like that," he says, looking at you very sincerely.

"It hurts," you say, watching him. "It always hurts."

"Well. Can't help nature, can you? Love happens. Sucks, huh?"

You sigh and nod.

"So what did they do to you in that place we found you at? There're holes all over your skin." He points at the bandages all over your torso.

"Studied me," you answer. "Poke and prod to see what my energy reacted to."

"What did it react to?"

"Pain and fear," you answer. "And... love. Or lust. Hard to tell. And strange gasses."

"How'd they know?"

"Poke in my head, fed the images."

"So what were the holes in your skin? They were bleeding pretty bad."

"Torture devices," you answer. "Shocked the fuckin' hell out of me until it stopped hurting."

He winces, then reaches over and pats your back. Aga slides down his arm and back to your neck and settles there. You feel a funny trust between you and Yusuke, like he would protect you if there ever came a time when you couldn't protect yourself. And you feel, somehow, even more vulnerable than before. Then you realize it. You love him, too, in a brother-sister sort of way. And it scares you. Either it is the feeling of love, or it is the fact that you love, but it frightens you and makes you feel very vulnerable.

"Why are you being so nice, Yusuke?" you finally ask.

"You seemed like you needed a friend. You are kinda tryin' to make friends, but you never did quite manage it," he answers, smiling slightly. "Like when you started playing Tekken, or when you tried to talk to Hiei. And when you fought us and apologized."

"Ah," you answer, picking something out of your teeth. Bit of cow bone. "...Thank you."

"No problem," he says. You turn back around again and start to head back to your house. He follows you. "Where are you going?"

"Home. Would you like to visit? If my brother's home, you'll get to meet him, and I think you two'll get along," you say, smiling.

"Sure," he says, shoving his hands in his pockets at the same time you do. You both noticed the other one's actions and laugh slightly. Then you start to run. You are faster, so you are taking it easy on him, watching him start to tire out as you turn onto your street. He stops running and starts walking, and you look at him and grin. "So... What's your story?"

"Adopted when I was three-ish. Found me in an orphanage with more spirit energy than you have now, so they told my current family to adopt me, and they trained me to manipulate it. Sort of a Spirit Detective myself. Only I tend to get paid so I don't run off and do something illegitimate. And I never have to work with partners 'cos they can't make me. 'til now."

"Why work with us?"

"Because otherwise, he'd fire me. He can afford to do that, now that he's fixed shit so that I can't tell anyone anything."

"How'd he do that?"

"You guys. He stuck you with me, that way if I ran off, you'd be able to catch me. He stuck me with you so I'd learn to deal with partners. Deal is, you four are the only ones under his command that have enough combined power to beat me. He's probably already spoken to Kurama and Hiei to let them know that. You don't make plans, so I'm sure that he'd just tell you the instant he found out I'm gone."

"Ah. Sure it's not Hiei?" he teased, looking at you smugly. You look at him, narrow your eyes, then punch him in the face. He holds his nose, trying to look at it.

"Yes. I'm very sure it's not Hiei. He doesn't like me."

"I dunno. He talks to you. And he hasn't called you 'baka' much, has he?"

"No."

"Ask Kurama. Kurama's a smart guy."

* * *

You snort slightly and open your door, looking around inside. Ender is there, this time. ((Ender is your eleven-foot-tall, twenty-one-year-old brother with long blue hair that is tied back in the back, but his bangs hang over his forehead and slightly into his eyes and a funny black goatee, both of which are natural.)) He's laying on the couch, staring at a pornographic magazine with a pair of scissors on the pillow next to him and a few beers. There's a stack of pictures on the floor next to the couch, so you assume he's going to redo the "wallpaper" in his room again.

"Hello, Ender," you say, letting Yusuke into the house. Yusuke looks at Ender and then at the magazine and he's instantly leaning over his shoulder, staring hard at the current naked woman on the page.

"Hello, Kali," he answers.

"I have that issue," Yusuke says, looking through the stacks that Ender has sitting on the couch with him. "And that one, and that one, and-- oooh, I don't have that one!" he says, pulling it out and sitting on the floor.

"Dammit, boys!" you murmur. You pull the magazines away from them, and the stacks of pictures and carry them to Ender's room.

"Andrew, no one wants to see that," your mom says as she walks into the living room. "Hello, Kali. Who's your boyfriend?"

"He's not my boyfriend."

"Yeah right. Anyone who's stayed chastised as long as you would have a boyfriend by now," Ender says. You hit him in the head. He looks at you and grins and flips you off. You glare at him and he floats into the air, fighting whatever's holding him there.

Yusuke watches interestedly, until Mom attacks him with her inquiry.

"So who are you?"

"Yusuke."

"How'd you meet Kali?"

"Work."

"Where do you go to school!"

"Jeez, Lady!" Yusuke shouts suddenly at the same time you go "Bad Mom! Down!" You drop Ender on his head onto the floor.

"I was just asking a few questions," Mom says defensively, picking up her hands. "What do you want for dinner? Yusuke, would you like to join us?"

"Fuckin' hell, Mom," Ender says, holding his neck. "Kali brings home a guy and you're doin' all the work for her."

"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND, AND I DON'T WANT HIM TO BE!" you shout, hitting Ender on the head. "Mom, we're having spaghetti for dinner, now go cook!" you demand, pointing at the kitchen.

"But, Kali--"

"GO!" you shout, pointing harder.

She narrowed her eyes at you, then looked at Yusuke. "You're staying for dinner. Like it or not."

"Okay," you say, shrugging. Yusuke does the same, to no surprise. You go back to your room and pull Aga off your neck. Your mom calls after you again.

"Kali! Show him around!"

"Let Ender do it!"

"Fine!" she shouts. You stare at your snake tank, then decide to find the other two and have them scare your mom. You pick up the snake and walk out and go to the kitchen, walking into the living room and putting one of the snakes on the floor. It slithers over to the woman who is currently sitting and reading while the stuff cooks, and slithers up her ankle. She screams and kicks madly, flinging the snake to you. You catch the snake and grin and run to see Yusuke, but another knock sounds at the door.

"Kurama?" you say, fairly shocked. Hiei and Kuwabara are there, too, standing back a ways, but there all the same. "Hiei, Kuwabara," you continue, staring at them incredulously.

"Hello," Kurama answers. Kuwabara makes a funny noise, like he's going to be ill all over the porch and Hiei "hn"'s. You move aside and gesture into the house, letting them walk in. Ender has gone up to his room, and Yusuke is with him.

"Why are you guys here?"

"Followin' you and Yusuke. We were makin' sure-- Ooooof!" Kuwabara says, stopping when Hiei elbows him in the stomach to silence him.

"That I wasn't cutting his body into tiny pieces and hiding them in my walls, or making sure that I wasn't fucking him on the couch?" you ask, narrowing your eyes.

"Either," Kuwabara says quietly.

"No. We're feeding him. We can feed you, too, if you're hungry. Any of you hungry?"

"You cook?"

"Yes, but I'm not doing so right now- Mom is. Spaghetti. You want any?"

"Got Tabasco?" Kuwabara answers.

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. MOM! You're cooking for three more!" you call to the kitchen. Your mother moves so she can see you and grins.

"More boys? My, Kal, you've been busy!"

"Shut up!" you shout, looking back at them. Kuwabara is making himself comfortable, watching the porn on TV that Ender has left on. Hiei is still standing next to the door, and Kurama is looking at you expectantly.

"Uhhh... Yusuke and Ender, my brother, are in Ender's room, probably picking out Playboy centerfolds to paper Ender's room with, and Mom's cooking. Kuwabara, you can go see them, they're in that room," you say, pointing. Kurama looks at you. "You wanna meet my mom?" you suggest. You hand Hiei your snakes, whispering to Aga that she can talk, but not to say anything important to him. Including what you learned this afternoon.

Kurama follows you to the kitchen and you introduce the two and help start conversation until they manage to figure out how to do it themselves and then you return to the living room and sit down on the couch. You wave a hand at the seat, looking at Hiei. "You can siddown" you say. He walks over and sits down on the window seat, looking out the window while the snakes are whispering in his ears. You turn off the TV and sit silently, staring at the floor. Hiei's continuously making "Hn" sounds as he listens to the snakes, and after a minute or two, he looks at you, narrowing his eyes and he smirks.

"You..."

"Shut up. No."

He smirks. You feel something probing in your mind, but you don't bother to shut it out.

"DINNER!" your mom calls.

"Good, good," you mumble, running into the kitchen. Kurama has set up the table, and there are three plates left on the counter. You grab one of those and fix your food as everyone else rushes into the room, and you manage to squeeze out to the living room before everyone else gets in and takes all of it.


	11. An Attempt at School

_An Attempt at School_

Not for the first time, you have to go to school to see if you can manage to keep yourself in it for more than half an hour, so you might wind up able to challenge your mind for a little bit by asking questions to someone who knows the answer.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time, all you do is wind up getting suspended and withdrawing again.

Koenma's getting hopeful. Since you made friends with Yusuke, he figures that Yusuke might be able to help you keep the hell out of trouble. The suggestion is an insult to your will power, but you have to go along with it.

"Kali, calm down!" Yusuke says quietly as you visibly resist the urge to break the neck of the guy sitting behind you. Your knuckles are white, and you swear that you're about to break your own hands with the grip you have on your chair, since you've broken all your pencils. The guy behind you keeps "accidentally" touching your ass with his feet and knees.

"Calm down? I'm calm," you manage to sing in incredibly high, frustrated tones through your teeth. "But _he_ won't be after I _crush_ his _eyeballs_ between my _fingers_!"

"You're supposed to be avoiding getting in trouble. Which means no attempting to kill anyone. Or fighting. Or arguing. Or hitting the teacher back when he tries to hit you, okay?"

"Fuck that, someone hits me, they're dead meat."

"For the sake of sanity, Kal..."

"Sanity's overrated," you hiss as the teacher comes in and slams something on the desk to quiet you all.

Not that you don't expect it, but a sarcastic remark leaves your mouth slightly louder than you mean for it to.

But how could you resist? He said something so incredibly stupid! Polar bears do not live in the Antarctic. And you didn't mean to make it sound so... rude.

"Stand up, Miss Kali."

"I'm sorry, I won't do it again?"

"Do not disrespect me, stand up."

You hear Yusuke sigh under his breath and see him duck his head. You stand up for sheer annoyance.

"Yeah, what?"

The teacher pulls his fist back and punches you in the jaw. You don't stagger. He, not satisfied with what pain is on your face, takes another swing. You duck it, which only seems to piss him off more. Yusuke stands up and starts to move toward you, but the teacher hits him on the side of the face to knock him back.

"Don't you take those tones with me," the teacher shouts at you.

"Hit me or Yusuke again, and you'll need a screwdriver to pry your teeth out of that desk."

He moves to hit you again, but Yusuke runs up and pulls you back, holding your arms and not letting go.

By now, half the class is on its feet, and the ones that aren't have moved to the back of the room and have decided to sit back down and watch the show. Or avoid it.

"Get off me, Yusuke!" you shout, pulling with a slight pressure forward, but not freeing yourself.

"Kali, please, calm down."

"I'm _calm_. Which is exactly why you're not on the floor or in that chick's lap and he's not three classrooms away getting emergency medical attention right now."

The teacher, unable to take a hint, approaches you and takes a swing. With Yusuke behind you and holding you still, you can't deflect the blow, so the punch lands on your cheek. It doesn't hurt too badly, and you haven't taken any damage, but you're more pissed off, now, and you always keep your word.

You shed Yusuke's grip on you, jump at the teacher, take him down to his knees, knock his knees away from him, and drive his head, mouth first, into a desk. You stand perfectly still while he tries to get to his feet.

Yusuke grabs your arm. "Kali, we have to go."

"I'm going. You can stay and tell me how many teeth they have to dig out," you growl, prying his hand off your arm and walking out of the room and back to your home.

* * *

"Kali got kicked out of school again?!" you hear Botan and Koenma cry from within Koenma's office. "But Yusuke was supposed to prevent that from happening!"

"Well, I guess Yusuke needs to brush up on his calming-Kali-down-skills," Ender answers with a chuckle.

"Oh, no, I was quite calm. I didn't break anything but Mr. Fuck-Face's teeth, and the desk that I rammed his mouth into," you say as you walk into the room. You scratch at your temple as you speak. Koenma puts his head down on his desk. "Better than last time."

"I remember that," Ender said. "What all was it you broke?"

"People-wise, or stuff?"

"Everything."

"Three arms, two legs, eight ribs, twenty-two teeth, seven desks, nine windows, all the lamps. And at least twenty people left pissing blood, or carrying a dislocated limb. Or a friend."

"Oh, yeah. I remember that. That was some carnage. News and everything."

"Yeah." You nod with a proud grin, thinking fondly of your second week of eighth grade

"Kali..."

"Kali, do you have the money to pay for his teeth and that desk?" Koenma asks.

"In my jar," you answer. "Ender knows where it is. I'm not paying if nothing makes me, by the way, in my eyes, he deserved it."

"Hmkay."

"Kali," Botan begins, "why don't you try to stay in normal school?"

"He hit me!"

"But he didn't hurt you."

"No, he didn't but he still hit me, the bastard, and then he hit Yusuke for moving to hold me back! And when Yusuke finally got around to holding me back, he hit me again! Unfair shot! He deserved what he got. Plus, I promised, the next time he hit me or Yusuke, he'd be picking his teeth out of that desk, and you know how I am about keeping my word."

All of them in the room sigh. "Kali..." Botan manages to drawl in whining tones.

"Oh shut up, like I need to go to school," you answer, looking at the senior level work books that are on Koenma's desk since you'd left them there the night before.

Just as you pick the books up, Yusuke comes into the room. Koenma looks up at him and makes a face. "What's the damage, Yusuke?"

"I've been suspended for getting involved, she's been expelled."

"I mean what kinds of surgery is the teacher supposed to get?"

"Oh! Uh... Well, it was the teeth she broke. Lots of broken teeth. And the desk. The desk has holes in it and little white chips in it. It'll be okay. He doesn't know enough to sue, personally, and even if he did, what you did could be qualified as self defense after I got involved, which is when you knocked his mouth into a desk."

"How many teeth?" you and Ender ask in sync.

"Eighteen are broken, six are missing."

"Let's see him hit another kid," you sing with a very broad grin.

* * *

"I heard that you hospitalized Yusuke's teacher," Kurama mentions idly as he walks up next to you at your house.

"Yeah. I did. Why?"

"I was simply stating it to start conversation."

"You want to hear the story, then?"

"If I may."

"Personality fishing," you hiss, letting him know that you know what he's doing. "I made a smart-ass remark, he got pissed off at me, decided to break me early on so I didn't do it again, and socked me in the jaw. If I was any less sturdy, it probably woulda done a lot of damage. But he hit me, then he almost hit me again, but I ducked, then he hit Yusuke. I told him that if he hit me again, he'd be digging his teeth out of a desk. And he didn't listen to me. Yusuke made him miss the next swing, but while he was holding me still, I got hit again, and I keep my word."

"Ah," you hear him say as he opens his book and puts his nose in it. But his eyes aren't moving back and forth properly. He's thinking. You can only wonder about what.


	12. Getting Drunk

_Getting Drunk_

Back at Spirit World, you're sitting on the couch, looking at the beer bottles and wondering how the HELL Yusuke and Kuwabara can chug it like that. You reach over and take a swig and immediately spit it into a cup on the table. Hiei has a drink in hand, Raspberry Bacardi, and Kurama's got some sort of wine in his glass. You look over at them, then try a bit of Kurama's. Tastes like strawberry.

"Can I have some of this?"

"You can finish off that bottle, I never drink much at a time," he says with a soft smile. You grin at him and down a load of it.

"Who wants to race me?" you ask. "Give me some cups, and whoever's gonna race me's drink."

Yusuke smirks, but Kuwabara takes the challenge first, and you pour some beer at the same level that you're pouring your wine. The trick to getting drunk is downing as much as possible in as little time as possible.

"Oi, let's all race," Yusuke says. Kurama shakes his head.

"I'll judge, if you please," he offers. You giggle a little and pour Yusuke some drinks and some of Hiei's in a cup. You're good at this game, but you don't know about the others.

You hand them their drinks apiece and grin. "Say when, Kurama."

"Go!"

You start downing your drink and you finish at the same time Yusuke does. You hold your cup in the air as soon as you finish, and Yusuke does the same thing, moving exactly as you do, as if planned.

"False start!" you shout, pointing at Yusuke

"Was NOT!" he cries, stomping angrily. "You cheated and filled my glass with more than yours!"

"I did NOT!"

"Where's the vodka?" Kuwabara demands, going to the kitchen and staggering a little. You know you can hold your liquor, so you go to help him.

The three of you start playing quarters with the green apple Smirnoff while Kurama watches. He seems quite entertained as your aims get worse and worse and worse. None of you, without cheating, managed to get the quarter into the shot, but by the eighth or so round, you're feeling quite tipsy, and you're bored with this game. So you go get a deck of cards and the four of you ((Even Hiei. He's innebriated and has much less dignity than he had this afternoon, though he very clearly denies that he's drunk at all.)) start playing strip poker.

Yusuke is the first one to lose all his clothes, and he starts prancing around naked, completely forgetting that he is unclothed after a while. You manage to keep everything except your socks, and Kuwabara gets to his shorts, and Hiei loses his cloak. And so you turn on the music and sit on the couch, giggling hysterically every now and again. Yusuke goes to the bathroom, but on the way, he passes out and hits the floor with a loud flopping noise. You all start laughing, and you sit on the counter in the kitchen. Kuwabara's sitting on the floor and starts playing with your feet, and you giggle, enjoying the strange sensation of your body being asleep. You keep wanting to move, you realize. Your keep rocking back and forth madly, until you finally rock too far forward. You don't remember hitting the floor, but apparently, you do, because you're on the floor and you sit up. Yusuke's rolling on the floor, and Hiei's even laughing at you. Kuwabara has his hand half-up your pants leg and you punch him in the head.

"Prick. I'll tear your balls off!"

"I know," he says. You get up and stagger to the living room and literally fall on the couch, laying there for a second until Yusuke sits down on you. You scream and kick at him, throwing his pants at him. He looks at you like you're insane and pulls them on very slowly and smiles sheepishly at you, then sits on you again. You force him up.

"Nu-uh. My lap is reserved for the one I love!"

"You don't love me?" he asks, crawling on top of you and putting his face near your cheek and kissing it very wetly.

"Yusuke, you're my BROTHER!" you shriek and giggle. He grabs your breast, and you get mad and literally throw him off you, onto the coffee table where he lays for a minute until he realizes he's no longer laying on you, and he giggles madly.

"You threw me..." he snorts. Hiei sits down on the couch in front of you, not nearly as drunk as you. Or acting it, anyway. You can't seem to sit still, and even when you are sitting still, your head wags constantly. Yusuke crawls onto a chair against the other wall and you giggle and sit up, pulling your legs close to you and letting Hiei sit back. Kuwabara crawls in without using his hands ((His head is rubbing on the floor)) and climbs onto the chair neighboring Yusuke.

"Let's play truth or dare," Yusuke suggests.

"Do we have to?" Kuwabara whines.

"Yes. Me, first. Yusuke! Truth or dare!" you shout, bouncing and nearly falling over.

"Dare," he answers. You grin. You've been wanting to do this all night.

"Dare you to French kiss Kuwabara!!" you shriek, pointing at them and falling off the couch in your over-excited-ness. You climb back on just in time to see Yusuke's eyes get huge and he falls out of his chair, pretending to pass out. Kuwabara's gone blue in the face.

You and Hiei start laughing as Yusuke pulls himself off the floor and looks at you, also blue. "B... But KALI!"

"Do it! I dared you to, you have no choice!!!"

He slumps, then walks over to Kuwabara and kisses him very briefly, and you see their tongues hit, so you're satisfied. And you roll on the floor laughing hysterically. Kurama in his chair is biting his thumb to keep from laughing. You giggle madly, until Yusuke glares at you.

"My turn. Truth or dare, Kali."

"Dare, duh. Okay, we're gonna run out this way, we have to swap back and forth between truths and dares, 'kay? So if you pick a dare one turn, you have to pick truth the next one."

"Fine, but anyway. I dare you... to kiss... me!" he shouts. You giggle.

"Not nearly as bad as you kissing Kuwabara." You get up and walk over and sit on Yusuke's lap and peck his cheek, then go back to sitting next to Hiei. Yusuke looks disappointed.

"Aw, come on."

"You never said French or with tongue, or even open mouth, dipshit. And now it's my turn. Kurama? Truth or dare?"

"Truth," he says.

"Are you gay?"

He smiled and laughed a little. "No, I'm not."

"Ah."

"Kuwabara, truth or dare?" he asks.

"Dare me, man, all the way!"

"Very well. I will be back in a second, excuse me. The game can continue in my absence, if you'd like."

Kurama gets up and goes into the kitchen, and Kuwabara looks at you, glaring.

"Kali! Truth or dare!"

"I have to pick truth," you answer.

"DAW! Fine, then. Have you ever been in love?"

You hate the way he says it. It sounds like he's making fun of you. You glare at him, then cross your arms.

"Fuck no," you answer. "Not in this life."

"That was a waste."

Kurama comes back into the living room carrying a glass of a brownish liquid and hands it to Kuwabara. "I dare you to drink that."

Kuwabara looks at it, then takes a sip, and gags and runs out of the room.

"Did you spit in it?" you ask excitedly.

"No. But there are a number of rather disgusting combinations in there. Including ketchup and pudding."

"Ewww," you groan. "I bet he's throwing up every bit of alcohol in his system. And his shoes."

"Probably."

"Hiei, truth or dare?"

"Hn. Dare."

"Hehehe..."

"What?"

"I have to come up with something good! Here's one. Smile for me, Hiei. One smile. That features teeth."

You think you've hit a nerve. He glares at you. You laugh. "It's no sin to grin," you sing. "Come on, please? I just wanna see what it looks like."

He sits back and seems to have trouble with it, but he finally forces a grin onto his mouth, which drops almost immediately. You launch yourself at him and hang half on him, until you lose your balance and fall onto the floor. You lay there for a little while, laughing your ass off, until someone grabs you by the arm and jerks you upright. You look up to see Kuwabara, who is looking at you like some dim-witted gorilla.

"Hiei's turn?" he asks.

"Yes. Kurama, truth or dare."

"Dare," he says. Kuwabara's still got you by the arm, looking at you like you're some sort of science experiment.

"Hm. I dare you to make Kali drink some of that stuff. Or try, to say the least, I think it would be amusing to watch her fight in this state."

"Bring it!" you shout, getting dropped by Kuwabara, then getting up and staggering. "But, um... be careful, I don' wanna, you know, kill you."

"Hiei, are you trying to have me killed? Or her?"

"No, I'm looking for entertainment. Kali, where is the portal key?"

You fish through your pockets and apply your energy to it, then hop through, landing roughly and collapsing as your legs decide that they don't want to support you. Kuwabara falls on you, and Yusuke falls on top of him, and Kurama and Hiei manage to land somewhere near you.

"Help me!" you cry. Kuwabara's laughing like an idiot, and Yusuke's flopping like a fish. Hiei and Kurama grab your arms and pull you out, and you drag yourself to your feet, though you feel like flopping over yourself.

"Alright, lessgo."

"I'm not going to force feed you anything, Kali, so why don't we just fight normally, and if you lose, you have to drink it."

"Fair enough. If you lose, you have to drink it, too."

"Alright."

Fighting drunk is difficult, you find out. Kurama has his rose whip out, but you can't focus enough to do anything except knock it away as well as you can with your energy-wrapped hands. You have focused your energy into your fingernails to make them sharp-as-hell claws, and you swipe at the whip futilely. It helps that you can't feel anything, but he never gets close enough for you to fight without your having to shoot at him or something, but your aim is so bad, you doubt you could hit the earth while pointing straight down. You run at him, but he jumps out of the way, and you have no idea where he's gone until he lands on your shoulders and you fall down. Your energy built up in your fingers fades away and your hands are bound by the whip so you can't cut it, so you put your head down and close your eyes until he walks close enough to you to shoot him. He flies back and hits the ground, and he's out cold.

"Hah. I win. And since he's unconscious, he can have it for breakfast!" you shout, holding your arm in the air. His whip lay on the ground, shrinking back into a rose. "Now someone carry him in. And if anyone else can move, help me up."

"Kuwabara and Yusuke both race to pick you up, though their method of carrying you is much less than pleasant. So you kick both of them in the softs of their knees and start walking yourself. You get to the portal and climb through. Hiei and Kurama appear a few minutes later, and Kuwabara never gets back. Yusuke does, though.

"Since Kurama can't take his turn, I'm takin' it. Kali! I dare yooooou... too... blow me!"

"I refuse. And you can't make me."

"You wanna bet?"

"I'm drunk off my ass, I beat a semi-sober Kurama at a fight, and you're drunk off your ass. You think you can make me do anything I don't want to do?"

"No."

"Good boy. Now go to bed."

"Wait! I gotta dare you to do something. Dare you to French me. Please?"

"I'm not French kissing my brother. I don't approve of incest."

"Fine. Kiss SOMEONE, come on! You made me kiss Kuwabara!"

"Hiei, then, because I'm not kissing you."

"FINE!"

Hiei's got his head down. You sit in his lap, flip Yusuke off the whole time you're kissing him, which isn't long. He attempted to kiss back, but you ended it a little too quickly and you sat back down in your seat and you notice that Yusuke looks kind of pissed.

"Yeah, you'd kiss him, but not me."

"That's right. Now. I'm going to bed. Good night, my dearest little brother," you say, kissing Yusuke's forehead and walking away, feeling your ways up the walls to your bedroom and collapse on your bed.


	13. Hangovers: Not Good

_Hangovers- Not Good_

You sit up in your bed, then fall back down, putting your palm to your forehead. "Oh, god," you groan as you roll out of your bed and hit the floor. "It is far too early to be awake."

You pat yourself over and find three bruises, two cuts, one of which looks kinda... well, bad, and a very strange mark. And you have a bad taste in your mouth. You can only wonder if that's what Hiei's spit tastes like, or if it's just the dying alcohol, _plus_ Hiei's spit.

Then you realize what you're thinking about.

"I kissed Hiei last night? Oh, god, why'd I do that?"

"Shut up, Kali!" Yusuke shouts from the hallway. Then both of you groan, and you hear him hit the floor, probably harder than he means to.

"Hnnnngh," you answer, sitting down in front of your dresser. You hear Kurama clear his throat in the hallway, and Yusuke's head, or something, hits the wall with a loud "thumk" ((No typo.))

"Kali," he whispers.

"Don't bother whispering, I'll live," you murmur, hoping he can't hear you, because you're lying your ass off to show off to Yusuke.

"Kali, Koenma needs the team. We have to go dispatch a demon, and possibly its army." Lucky for you, he notices it's a bluff, or he really didn't hear you, and he's still whispering. Or, perhaps, it's for Yusuke's sake.

You groan. "Can't this wait?"

"No, Kali, it can't."

"Can't you do it? You're not hungover."

"You know I'm not strong enough to deal with more than a few at a time."

"And I can't keep my energy in check enough to deal with more than twenty at a time for very long," you grumble.

"We know, Kali, that's why the whole team is coming. You fight first, then let us handle what's left. Not much, we hope."

"Five against a big guy and an army. Koenma sucks, I should probably quit."

"Don't let him hear that, he'll sic us on you," Yusuke says, hitting the door gently with the thumking extremity.

Once outside, you see that Kurama is the only of you four that doesn't have a hangover. Even Hiei looks droopy-eyed and pained, though it's obvious he's masking it as well as he can. Which is pretty well, he's not slumped over and rubbing his head like you, Kuwabara, and Yusuke are.

"Botan's coming, too," Kurama mentions.

You sigh. "Oh, no. Not Botan. Anyone but Botan. Please."

"What's wrong with me coming!?" she demands loudly. At the first word, everyone but Kurama covers their ears and ducks their head, holding it, even Hiei.

"That's what... Please, Botan, I don't wanna deal with you right now..."

"That's too bad, you should have made sure there wasn't anything to do before you got drunk!"

"Botan, be quiet," Hiei groans.

"Please," Yusuke adds.

"Oh, all right!" she says stubbornly. "But I still think-"

You cut her off by putting a hand over her mouth. "Say one more thing, and I'm going to gag you," you bark, glaring at her out the one eye that isn't screwed shut. She nods. "Good girl," you say slowly. She creates a portal, and you six jump through.

* * *

"My head hurts," Kuwabara whines for what has to be the seven-thousandth time. You growl and punch him for what has to be the eight-thousandth time.

"If we cared, Baka, we would have asked," Hiei barks irritably. You decide, again, that you prefer Hiei's voice to anyone else's there, being low pitched and semi-monotonous.

"Are we there, yet?" Yusuke grumbles, looking up from your shoulder. He's been leaning on it most of the trip, and you're sure he's gone to sleep at one point or another. Apparently, you're just short enough for him to use as a pillow.

"No. We're not. Come on, dammit."

You trip over something on the ground and fall flat on your face while Yusuke falls on top of you.

"FUCK!" you shout, louder than you mean to, and inducing your own headache.

"Ouch, what'd you do that for?" Yusuke demands, punching you in the shoulder.

"Touch me again and die, Urameshi."

"Oooh, the big bad demon bitch is gonna get me."

"Yes, she is, you bastard, if you say one more thing!"

"One more thing!" Yusuke shouts in your ear. You throw him off you, get to your feet, and begin to lunge at him, but everyone there grabs you and stops you

"Kali, no!" Kurama says frantically, holding one of your arms. "We need both of you in your best condition."

"You shoulda thought of that before you got all four of us up with hangovers!" you shout, stomping on his foot. He releases you and kneels, holding his foot and hissing in pain.

"Can we please just get this done with?" Hiei barks.

"What the fuck ever!" you growl, starting to storm ahead.

You walk for what feels like hours, and the weather's only getting hotter and hotter and hotter, until you eventually have to stop at a cliff. You look over the cliff, and your eyes go wide.

"Oh, shit," you murmur.

"What is it, Kali?" Kurama asks, before he gets close enough to see.

"Oh. Oh, dear," Botan whispers quietly.

"Yes, that," Kurama agrees.

"Fuck," Yusuke whines, sitting down on the ground.

Below you, stretched out for what seems like a mile in your current state, is castle. And it's what you've been looking for. And you don't know what to do, now. There is supposedly a very large demon in there. And there is supposedly also an army. But it's not big enough for an army. Which means, for your good luck, there is no army, or it's underground. And that's not good.

"Can we do this another time?" you whine. "I'm not over my hangover, yet."

"It is essential that we deal with this now, Kali."

"But I don' wanna!"

A loud thwacking noise sounds, and the whole row of you is thrown forward, off the edge of the cliff. You tumble, but you twist in the air so that you're going face down, so you can see where you're going. Every now and again, you look up to see how they're doing. They're tumbling madly. You turn your back to the ground and sigh, hoping the fall will kill you quickly, and you close your eyes. Maybe it'll ease the fear.

* * *

You wait for the pain of hitting the ground and smashing into it in a biiiig Kali-guts-puddle, but you never feel it, or even anything close. You open your eyes and see a stone ceiling, but you don't see it with the usual bright colors and light that your eyes always provide in the dark. You pat yourself over to see if you're dead and in Hell or what, but you don't feel any major injuries. You look around and gasp.

"Holy shit!" you yelp. "We're in the castle!"


	14. Lost

_Lost_

You look around slowly. None of the others are with you, you realize, until you hear a loud scream coming from Kuwabara. You have to cover your ears and sit down, waiting for the throbbing headache to go away.

"I'm going to kill you, Kuwabaka, the next time you scream like that. Do me a favor, and start drumming your fingers on the ground!"

"Kali! Where are you!?"

"Shut UP and drum your goddamned fingers!"

You hear a steady tapping straight ahead. You start walking. As you near a fork, you listen carefully and start following the sound.

You see a mass of orange, poorly styled, hair near the ground, and you step up, tapping his shoulder with your foot. He's laying on the floor.

He jumps and screams. You sit down on the floor and cover your head. "Don't do that... idiot..." you moan, laying back. He looks at you funny.

"Kali, are you okay?"

"My head hurts..." you sigh. He helps you to your feet, but you sit back down. He picks you up and holds you up. You point down the hall, starting to stretch out with your mind. You feel Hiei, or someone, in your head.

Who is that?

Hn.

Terrific. Where are you?

A hallway. Where are you?

A different hallway. Start humming or drumming your fingers or something.

You hear a cough, and then you hear a humming sound. Kuwabara starts following it.

After a few minutes of following the sound, you run into a dead end, even though the sound is at its loudest, here. You think. Then it suddenly sounds like it's coming from behind you.

"Oh, no!" you groan.

**Kurama**

You come to on the hard stone floor in a strange hallway, and you get to your feet slowly. You hear a slight groan, and you look up to see Botan resting on the ground near you. She's out cold, still, but stirring. You move next to her and touch her shoulders lightly. "Botan, wake up," you whisper.

She stirs and picks herself up onto her elbows and looks around. You help her to her feet and watch her brush herself off.

"Kurama... where are all the others?"

"I don't know," you mumble, looking around. "Hiei! Kali! Yusuke! Kuwabara!" you shout, plugging your ears as your own voice echoes all around you. No response comes.

Eventually, you hear a small voice murmur something, then something else sounds, then you hear a series of tapping noises, then some more voices, then a little humming. Then Kali makes a loud, angry sound.

"Kali!" you call.

"Kurama?" she answers.

"Kali, make a noise so I can find you!"

You hear her voice starting to swell above all the other sounds in the halls as she sings.

"Very good, Kali!" you say, not knowing if she can hear you. You start walking slowly forward, and start tracing the sounds with your ears, until, about eight turns later, all you hear is Kuwabara screaming.

"KALI!"

You start running, following the sounds of Kuwabara's voice, until you suddenly trip over Yusuke and fall to the floor. He wriggles and curls into a ball on his side.

"Piss off, I'm still sleeping!" he groans. You glare at him, and Botan punches him in the head.

"Yusuke Urameshi, wake up right now!" she shouts. Yusuke's standing up, now, rubbing his head.

"What the hell was that for?"

"Something bad happened to Kali."

Kuwabara plows into you, knocking you both down. You land rather ungracefully on your butt, and have to stand up and brush yourself off before Kuwabara realizes you're there, too.

"Oh, god, you guys, you gotta help, Kali, she, like, there-"

Yusuke punches Kuwabara in the head. "Spit it out!"

"These things flew out of the wall and grabbed her, and she can't move or talk or breathe or nothing!"

"What the hell'd you leave her for?!"

"She disappeared!"

"Oh, _shit_!" Yusuke whines loudly. "Where's Hiei?"

I am here, Hiei's voice hisses in your head. I'm no longer in the maze. I was seized.

"Hiei, can you hear us?"

Only the loudest of your words.

Yusuke stares at you like he suspects you're about to go insane and invert his skull.

"Hiei was taken by the same things Kali was, I imagine. Hiei, is Kali with you?" you call into the air.

I can't see. Even my Jagan can't see.

"Then we can only assume not."

"Why were they taken?" Yusuke asks. "Why not us?"

"Maybe they couldn't find us. Those two are the strongest, right? Well, maybe they can't find us because we're not as strong as them," Kuwabara says after a bit of thought. "S'how I knew where you were."

"We can only hope you're right. Let's find our way to them."


	15. Trapped

_Trapped_

**You**

A loud ringing in your ears is the sound you wake up to, and a throbbing headache. When you open your eyes, it makes no difference, you can't see anything anyway.

"Oh... stop that, please stop that..." you moan, talking to your ears. Then you realize that you can't hear yourself talking at all. You reach up to touch your ears, but you can't move your arms. You scream, but something touches your mouth. You panic and scream, which only hurts your head worse, even if you can't hear it. Something puts its hands over your mouth and you throw a barrier around yourself, knocking them away. A burning on your legs shows you that you've missaimed your barrier, and you scream again. You make a knife out of your energy, extention of your fingertips, and try to cut at whatever that is on your arms that's keeping you from moving them. It doesn't work. In your distraction, you drop your barrier, and the someone picks you up, and you feel the bonds around your upper and lower arms tighten. You kick and try to twist, but you can't, and all your weight is dangling from a center point at your mid-back.

**Hiei**

You can't see in the pitch blackness of the room you've been placed in. You can't see, you can't hear, and you can't smell anything. You can move, you think- you've been moving like you're pacing the floor, but you can't feel the air moving around you.

All of a sudden, you hear a girl screaming, and your whole body tenses up. Kali, you're sure. Botan's voice is much more annoying.

"Kali!" you call.

No answer, just more screaming.

I think something is happening to Kali, you say to Kurama's mind.

"I... ... ...ou said you... n't know... she is!"

I don't know where she is, I just heard her screaming.

You hear a noise next to you, and you jump and turn around. Your eyes search the dark, but you can't see, you can't even imagine you see anything.

"Hiei, the Forbidden Child," a deep voice says. You glare and draw your katana, but you still can't see, or sense, anything.

"Who are you?" you demand.

"I see you're keeping your head, much better than the girl is. But then, you can move to defend yourself, and you can hear me."

"Where is she, and where are the others?"

"The others, I don't know. I can't find them, their energy signatures are not large enough for me to place them. That's what she's for. Her screaming should be a sufficient draw-to."

A rage gathers in your throat.

"What are you doing to her?"

"She is frightened, we are not doing anything to her except scaring her."

"We?"

"My darling wife and I."

You clench your fist. "Release me!"

"But you would make such an excellent addition to my army!"

Suddenly, the room around you fades, and light hits your eyes painfully. You have to keep your face hidden until your eyes adjust, and you look around. There are thousands and thousands of psychics, demons, and humans training, fighting, sleeping, and eating all around you. You look carefully. There are a few duplicates of some, but not enough to have cloned any of them.

"Mind control?"

"Close, Forbidden Child. Very close. A certain drug, when administered, can shut down the thought-process of their minds. We have frozen most of these in aging, and made them very sedate. They don't think for themselves. You and your teammates will join them."

"Mind drugs don't work on Kali," you say out loud. Koenma told you yesterday, in order to fill you in on her weaknesses and strengths, rather than just her fighting technique and energy. He didn't know, either, until he got the test results from the people that studied her.

"Do they not? Well, I suppose we shall have to dispose of her, after we use her to gather the others up."

**Kurama**

"GOD, my head hurts," Yusuke whines again.

"Does anyone else hear that?" Kuwabara whines.

"The high pitched, repetative noise that's going to drive me nuts if it doesn't stop soon?" Yusuke sighs.

"Yeah. That."

"What is it?"

You all stop to listen for a minute. Suddenly, you hear a very clear word in the whistle-like noises. "FUCK!"

"Kali!" all four of you say at once. Yusuke groans and leans against the wall, holding his head, and Kuwabara whines, but grabs Yusuke's arm and starts running for the sound.

**You**

You keep screaming, until your voice starts to hurt. And at this, you scream "FUCK!" and start to weep quietly as you dangle helplessly. You can't hear, you can't see, you i still /i can't move...

**Hiei**

"Where is Kali?"

"She is safe. Would you like to go to her? She won't be able to see you, or hear you, of course, but you will still be able to see her."

Suddenly, you see a plain stone room with her hanging from the ceiling by a set of some sort of bands wrapped over her shoulders, just above her elbows, just below her elbows, and at her wrists, all holding them close to her body, and her legs are bound so the only motion she can make with them is to bend her knees, and that had to hurt. She is no longer screaming. Mildly red tears are falling from her wide-open, wholly white eyes, and as you call her name, she doesn't respond, or react.

"She can't see or hear. Another genius drug we have designed. At first we had her blindfolded and her ears were plugged, because we couldn't get the mind-drugs to work, but you helped us, Hiei. Thank you."

You feel a pang of guilt, but you look around for the source of the voice again. Nothing is there.

"Bastards," you hiss.

Just as you say this, you see the other four wander up to the room Kali's in, and you tense up again, and you draw your katana and attempt to cut through the wall.

**Kurama**

You and the others are following the sound of weeping very carefully, until you find her. The iris and pupils of her eyes are absent, and she obviously can't see. "Kali?" you call. No reaction or response. You step forward, but the floor gives way, and Yusuke has to pull you back.

"Oh, shit, what now?" you hear Kuwabara ask the air.

"I don't know. Can anyone help her?"

Botan climbs onto her oar and starts to float over to Kali. She eases up next to her, but Kali doesn't know that, and when Botan touches her, she tries to flail and screams. You see her energy flare visibly. Botan touches her again, but it doesn't help. You finally sigh and pull out your rose, and use the Petal Dance technique, and she suddenly calms down, catching a whiff of the familiar rose scent, even though a few of the petals cut her skin.

"Kurama!" she sighs suddenly. "Oh, god, I'm sorry, where are you? That's not you near me, I don't smell you... Oh, god, you have to help me..."

She pauses and takes another whiff. "Botan," she says slowly. "Your perfume sucks, and it doesn't cover that smell of death... Be careful, I don't know what they've done to me, but I can't see and I can't hear, so if I speak any louder than I should, just put your finger to my lips or something."

You watch the two girls exchange hints of conversation, Kali speaking aloud while Botan pets her. "I'm so scared, Botan, I'm so scared, I can't see, I can't hear, I can't even move... I can't fight..."

Botan taps Kali's head and her throat.

"Asking if I can talk mentally with anyone?"

Botan helps Kali nod. Kali pauses a second.

"Hiei," she says quietly. "He needs your help, you guys. Whether or not he's admitting it, I can tell."

Botan looks at you three, then back at Kali. "You three go help him, I'll see what I can do about Kali."

You turn to leave, but as soon as you put your foot on the ground, it gives way for twenty feet down the hall. You look at the other boys, then at Botan and Kali, then Hiei falls out of the ceiling, and bleeding from a wound on his back.

Botan unhooks Kali and almost drops her, but hooks her onto the oar and carries her over to the solid ground all of you are standing on. You're helping Hiei to his feet, and Yusuke and Kuwabara work on freeing Kali, though it's working little bits at a time.

**Hiei**

As you attack the wall, something in it gives way, and you plow through it, ignoring that there is something that grabs your back and tries to keep you from leaving. You land roughly on the ground that they have been narrowed down to, and kneel for a second before the Kitsune tries to help you up. You stand up and brush yourself off. Kali is sitting on the ground, trembling and being as still as otherwise possible while Kuwabaka and Yusuke cut her bonds away. She can't see, or hear, as is obvious, and she's very frightened.

Kali's voice shakes weakly as she tries to talk to the guys helping her. The whole time, she tries to keep a hold on one of them, all distrust forgotten in her fear. She doesn't know what's going on, and her remaining senses are weak, right now, and the fact that she can't move can't help her fear. Tears continue to run down her face, and it seems to be all she can do to resist fleeing from the ones touching her. You pick her up and put her to her feet, then hold her so she doesn't fall down. She smells you, you guess, and she sighs into your ear. "Thank you, Hiei," she sighs, resting against you as one of them frees up her lower arms just below the elbow.

Kurama is standing next to her, and he reaches out slowly to touch her shoulder, and she jumps, frightened again, and sniffs lightly in his direction, then sniffs a little harder.

"Kurama?" she asks slowly. He taps her forehead. "Does that mean 'yes'?" He taps her forehead again. She nods and sighs. "Okay... what means "no"?"

He thinks for a second, then taps her chin. She nods. "Chin means 'no', forehead means 'yes', right?"

He taps her forehead and she sighs, as if relieved.

The voice laughs at you, and Yusuke sits back down and holds his head. "Oooouch. My head still hurts, do you mind?"

"The strongest of your number is now a weak link, and there is no escape for any of you."

"Botan, can you create any portals?" Hiei demands.

"I don't think I will be able to hold it long- whoever's running this place knows what he's doing."

"Try. We need to get you and Kali home."

"Who's talking?" Kali demands, staring straight forward with her unseeing eyes.

You tap lightly at her shoulder. She turns and looks at you, then sniffs. "Hiei," she mumbles. "There was a bigger sound, it shook the floor and the air." You shrug. She scowls, then goes back to clinging to you until you pick her up. You take a step, and she tenses up and tightens her grip.

The ground suddenly falls out from under all of you and the only sound you hear is Kuwabara's screaming until you all hit the ground.


	16. Lost Some More

_Lost Some More_

**Yusuke**

You wake up in complete darkness, and you look around and feel around. "Kali? Hiei? Kuwabara? Kurama? Botan?" You call the role, sniffing around for roses, Kali's incense, Kuwabara's sweat, Botan's perfume, or... whatever that smell Hiei always has. Kali inspired that idea. Being blind is a pain in the ass, and they're not making any noises.

You hear a small whining noise from the corner and crawl carefully over to it. When you touch it, it jumps away from you and hits the wall with a yelp of pain. It's Kali, you're sure.

You reach out and touch it again. This time, it lunges at you and bites your arm, even though it's shivering. You close your mouth to keep quiet, and breathe in hard through your nose, just picking up the scent of incense, and you hug Kali close to your chest, hopefully letting her know who you are by the smell of you. She reaches up and accidentally pokes your eye with a violently shaking hand, then touches lightly at your hair.

"Yusuke," she says finally. "Are the others here?"

You shrug, then shoot a spirit gun blast into the air, lighting the room up for a few seconds. You catch sight of three other lumps, but Botan is gone. You go over to the closest of the lumps, Kuwabara, and kick him until he's awake.

"Who kicked me!" he demands.

"I did, dumbass, now get up and fire up your spirit sword so we can see."

"Urameshi, that's not nice!" he whines as his Spirit Sword materializes and lights the room with a dimly orange glow. You can see Kurama and Hiei in the far corners, though whether or not they're awake or alive is uncertain. Botan is nowhere to be seen.

You go wake up Hiei while Kuwabara wakes up Kurama. Kali stays with you, having clung to your shoulders when you offered to let her stay in her corner.

Hiei nearly removes your head when he finally does wake up, but Kali drags you back, away from his katana, as if she knew. How'd she do that?

"Where are we?"

"Some sort of chasm," Kurama answers.

"Are you guys blind, too?" Kali asks for some reason or another. You tap her chin, seeing the code Kurama made. "So why aren't we moving?"

You try to think this through, then you get her to her feet and lead her slowly around the room while you hold her hand to the wall, showing her that there was no way out. She nods.

"Trapped?"

You tap her forehead. She sighs and starts pacing the edge of the room, drawing her fingers along the wall and dragging her feet. You, in the meantime, decide to do something constructive.

None of you have figured anything out and gotten very far with it. Almost as if on cue, Kali trips and hits the ground hard, just as you're about to start blasting everything in sight.

"There's something under my foot, someone take a look," she murmurs, sitting up and moving to the point where her feet are resting, picking something up.

An opening in the floor is under the thing that Kali drags away, and you have to grab her and pull her back as she almost falls in while she pushes it. It's about three feet tall and two feet wide, just wide enough for someone to get stuck if they fold the wrong way.

"Very good, Kali!" Kurama says semi-excitedly before he remembers she can't hear him, so he pats her back and you hug her.

She smiles and laughs again. You can see she's still shaking uneasily, and when you hug her, you feel her heart pounding against your chest. You realize how helpless she is right now. She is just as powerful as always, but she can't use any of the power. And she is scared shitless with a bunch of people that don't trust her. And she knows it. No wonder she's so scared. Even while she's sitting down, her knees are shaking terribly.

"How far down does it go?" Kuwabara asks.

"Why are we still here?" Kali asks. You, not having any better idea, sit her down next to the hole, and put her foot in it. "No stairs?" she finally asks. You tap her forehead. She nods slowly. "Kuwabara, spirit sword. The get longer trick. You can see how far down it goes, or someone can slide down. Here, I have an idea. Since I'm already blind, a little dark won't hurt me, I can shimmy down," she quickly offers.

Kurama reaches over and taps her chin.

"Why not?"

"How do we explain "dangerous"?" you murmur.

"Who's talking?"

You hold your arm out under her nose, getting a little irritated at her constant questions.

She sighs, sensing how ticked you are, and pushes you away, even though without one of you touching her, she starts to shake harder, and her knees begin to give way, until she finally sits down with her feet dangling in the hole.

Kurama grabs her arm, but she pulls it away. "Don't worry about it... Kurama? I'll be fine." She puts her feet to the wall on the other end of the three foot wall, and slides her butt gently to the wall behind her and starts shimmy-ing down very slowly and carefully.

The other four of you wait anxiously for a sound besides the scritching of her boots and back scooting down the wall nervously, until it suddenly stops, shortly followed by a flumping noise.

"I've found the floor! I think it's safe to jump! The wall stops about ten feet up, I think. It took me a second or two to fall, but it's not far enough to hurt. Without landing badly."

Hiei is the first to go, after this report, and you hear him land.

"It's not far," he agrees. You hear a few footsteps and you decide to jump through.


	17. Meeting the Masterminds

_Meeting the Masterminds_

**Hiei**

Kali is waiting for you when you hit the floor. She feels you land, and she steps carefully toward you. You touch her arm, startling her. She sniffs madly, then settles again. "Hiei." You tap her forehead. She whispers to herself. You pull her out of the way. Yusuke hits the ground. Kali's grip on your arm tightens, and she sniffs wildly, until he walks up. You decide to sniff and see what it was she could smell. Grease, incense, and watery air.

The last two come down, and she identifies each of them, but she's still clinging to your shoulder, hanging off it by both hands and keeping her front pressed to your side.

"Who is going to keep Kali? She can't walk by herself," Yusuke remarks.

One by one, all of them look at you. "Why me?" you ask.

"You're the only one patient enough to deal with her, and it's not like you have to be nice. You just have to let her hold onto something."

"Why not Kuwabara? He's big enough to carry her."

"I had her when she disappeared first time. Plus, I have the light," Kuwabara answers, looking proud. Yusuke punches his head.

"And why not Kurama?"

"He smells too strong, she won't be able to smell anything else with him. And Yusuke can't help her because he's too mean," Kuwabara answers. Idiot, for once, has a point, as little as you want to admit it.

"What are you guys talking about?" she asks slowly. Yusuke pokes her nose, mostly sarcastic. "Me?" she finally asks. You tap her forehead. "Oh. You don't have to help me if you don't want to, I can follow your footsteps, I can feel everything that happens to the floor. They took my shoes."

You let go of her and step back, and, despite her words, her facial expression changes to one of terror, even though she tries to hide it.

Kurama starts to walk, watching her. She turns in his direction, but otherwise doesn't move. You all start walking for the only door in the area, and she trails behind you in the back for a little while, until the voice shakes the room and she lunges at you and clings to your shoulders, hugging you all the way around and preventing any movement.

"I'm sorry, Hiei, I am, but it scared me," she murmurs just as the voice sounds through the room.

"Where are you going?" the voice asks with a chuckle.

"Getting the hell out of here," you answer. Kali lets go of you when you speak, probably thinking you're mad at her.

A sudden noise startles all of you, and Kali suddenly screams, which makes all of you jump again.

"Water," she says quietly. "They're flooding us out. Kuwabara's up front, isn't he? Make a noise or something, so I can make a barrier and keep us some air, will you? And hurry, it's coming fast!"

He yelps, and Kali closes her eyes. Your feet suddenly feel something roll under them, and you see a glowing force all around you. The whole tunnel floods, suddenly, all around you. She sits on the floor of the bubble-barrier and puts her back to the four of you, then puts one arm through her own barrier. You see that her skin is burning a little where the barrier is touching her, but she doesn't seem to mind. "Tell me when we need to turn," she reports. holding her hand like a gun and firing a Spirit Gun shot. The bubble shoots forward, and hits a wall. All of you are thrown forward, except her, she grabs the edge of the barrier, cutting her hand. You pull the scarf off your head to let the Jagan look around a little better. You can see everyone in the pile around you. Kuwabara's at the bottom, Yusuke is next to you, Kurama is somewhere between the wall and Kuwabara, on your right. Kali is still clinging to the back of the barrier, and there is a dark substance leaking from her hand down the side of the barrier wall, along with water.

Yusuke moves back next to her. You realize that there's a leak in her barrier besides what she's failed to plug up where her hand was, probably from lack of concentration. Yusuke tries to stick his arm through the barrier and fails, then he punches his way through, and pulls her arm back in. She tries to stick it back out, but he pulls it back again, then taps her temple. She seems to understand, then lays back on the floor with her palms pressed to the walls. The rest of you get to your feet and wait.

**Kuwabara**

Kurama is sitting on the floor, waiting. Hiei is standing with his arms crossed. You're looking out of the front of the bubble. Yusuke's helping move the bubble, and Kali's laying on the floor, helping hold the bubble, until, suddenly, the bubble starts rocketing upward.

"We're on the surface," Kurama whispers after all of you hit the ground because the bubble fell back down to the water. Kali sighs, but she doesn't let the barrier down.

"Where's the nearest land surface?" Yusuke asks, hissing through his teeth. "Hurry up and tell me, this stupid thing's burning my skin off."

"We can swim, if Kali will let us," Kurama murmurs. You shake your head.

"I can't swim too well."

"Never a better time to learn." Yusuke's tones are teasing. He taps Kali's nose again.

"What?" she asks. He takes her hand and pats the barrier, then taps her chin with the hand not on her wrist. She nods and suddenly, all of you hit the water. She squeaks fearfully, and starts to tread water. "Where are we going?"

Kurama pulls one of her arms and starts to swim forward. She makes him let go of her arm, then grabs his ankle. When she gets used to the direction, she lets go and ducks under the water and starts swimming in that direction, keeping her body straight. You swim next to her, which startles her when she touches you, and she jumps into the air from the water, spitting.

"Holy shit, which of you is that. I can't smell you anymore. Goddammit!"

She ducks back under the water, suddenly, and swims until she hits the wall. All of you climb onto the land and dry off. Kali paces off a little bit and takes off her shirt to wring it out, then does the same with her pants. You ogle before you can control yourself. Hot DAMN, what an ass! God himself got a boner while he was sculpting it!

The voice shakes the whole room with its laugh, and something materializes next to Kali. She makes a frightened sound and runs toward you, ignoring that her pants are only just clinging to her hips. She hits your chest and nearly knocks you down. You put your arms around her. Haha, you've got your arms around a beautiful girl, finally! She is shaking harder than before, though, which kind of ruins it.

The thing smiles at all of you. "Hello, there."

The young man and woman standing there with their arms around each other are frighteningly friendly-looking, and you have a really bad feeling coming from them.

"Assholes, scarin' me like that!" Kali calls in their directions, releasing her hug on you but keeping a very tight grip on your shirt.

The woman releases her hold on her husband and walks towards you. You take a step back, and Kali's grip pulls her with you, but she can't keep her feet, and she falls to the floor and scrambles the wrong way to the edge of the water and can't go anywhere. "Oh, shit!" she yelps. "Guys, where are you?!"

You start toward her, but the woman gives you a look, and you back away, scared.

The woman touches Kali gently, and Kali thrashes madly, kicking up in her direction but missing anything except her hands and shoulder.

"Don't you want your sight back?"

"Lady, I know you're talking, but I can't hear a word you're saying. You smell like Botan. What the fuck is going on? Where _is_ Botan?"

"The ferry girl? We let her go. A non-fighter, and a weakling, we don't want her. We let her go."

"I still can't hear you, psycho-bitch," she growls, scooting back again and falling into the water. The woman seizes her arm and pulls her out of the water, but Kali shrieks and kicks at the woman until she's dropped. Yusuke and Hiei both run to her and help her up. She jumps when these two touch her, also, but then she touches the arms on hers and she recognizes them or something, and she scoots closer to them.

"Get away from us," Yusuke demands.

The man laughs and takes a step toward them. You wince and take a step back.

**Kurama**

The man steps up and Kali glares. Sort of. And she runs and suddenly, the big demon is pinned to the wall. He smiles evilly and she starts looking around. You see footsteps appearing out of nowhere behind her, and while she's distracted, he punches her back, then throws his arms out. A wave of fire flies at all of you. Kali smells the heat, gets to her feet, runs, and waits to fall in the water. You jump in, dragging Kuwabara with you. Yusuke and Hiei are in the water no sooner than Kali is.

After a while, you surface. Hiei and Yusuke are there, and Kuwabara's flailing. Kali is absent. Hiei looks at you, then around, then dives back under the water. You look at Yusuke. "Is she still down there?"

"She probably can't find her way back up. We figured you got her, but since she's not with you..."

Hiei and Kali come back up, and she gasps.

"Hoooooly _hell_, that took a very long time!" she yelps as she comes up. "Are those assholes still here?"

"They left after we di-"

"Get out of the water. NOW!" Kali shouts, probably not hearing you talking. She swims to the land-lump and climbs onto it and starts waving frantically.

The rest of you follow her advice, but Kuwabara doesn't manage to move fast enough. Something bites him on the foot and he jumps up and swings his foot madly. "GET IT OFF!"

Kali laughs a little. "Hold still, just be glad it was only one."

Yusuke walks over and pulls it off. It starts snapping at his face and flipping.

"Kali? You can hear, yet?"

No answer. She does look in your direction. "God, these vibrations are getting irritating," she mumbles.

"She can't hear us, she can feel everything about us. She's only got two of her senses that are any use, and both of them have been terribly enhanced by the lack of her main two senses."

"So what's wrong with her if she can smell everything and feel everything?" Yusuke is staring at her.

"Yusuke, what would you do if someone cut off your sight and your hearing at once?"

He looks at her. "No wonder she's freaking out so much," he finally mutters. "So how do we get out of here?"

She sniffs around lightly, then jumps a little, and her eyes get big. "Funny smell. Funny smell, death, Botan-ish..." she hisses, sniffing around. She gets to the center wall and jumps a little. "Air! Guys, there's funny smell up there."

"What?" Kuwabara looks up at her cluelessly. You walk over and sniff the air lightly. It doesn't smell as watery, there. Not as much, but still watery. You look up.

"Kuwabara, I see something, come over here," you say. He gets up and walks over you with half his shoe on and fires up his Spirit sword. You can see a trap door, or at least a hole. It's about ten feet off the floor, you guess. Yusuke and Hiei and Kuwabara are around you, now, looking up at it.

"Yusuke or Hiei first. Kali next. Yusuke or Hiei after that, then myself. Kuwabara will need to go stay at the bottom."

"HEY! Why am I last?!"

"Don't shout, Kuwabara or Yusuke, I've still got a headache," Kali orders from somewhere off to the left. You glance at her. She's laying on her stomach, with as much of her on the floor as possible.

You go over and pull her up. She fights away until she sniffs you over, then she takes a hold of your shirt, and you lead her over. "Kuwabara is last because he is biggest, and least likely to fall without getting stuck, should any of us lose our placing. It's a tunnel, just like the way we got down here. Not to mention he's tallest, and won't need as much help up."

Hiei jumps up to the tunnel and clings to the wall and starts working his way up, pushing his back to the wall with his feet and walking up. He or Yusuke need to go up first to take care of anything that might be waiting for you. You can't go because you take too long to make a tactic. Kali will need lots of help up, which is why she's second.

And she does need a lot of help up. You have to stand on Kuwabara's back and let Yusuke help her climb up the two of you until she gets there, and starts climbing up slowly. Yusuke starts following her, jumping up himself, and you follow him up, then Kuwabara jumps and scrambles uneasily, coming up.

You hear a screeching noise and scratching, and then Yusuke stops moving.

"There's a hole in the wall," she explains, getting up and starting to walk again. The line makes a strangely large jump forward, and you hear a strange sound from above you, and the line stops again.

"Hiei?" Kali asks slowly. "I don't smell him. And I don't feel anything moving on the floor. And I can't get up any farther from here," she says.

"Hiei? Not funny, asshole, help her up so we can go!" Yusuke whines.

"I'm tired!" Kuwabara whines.

"That hole I tripped in. Kuwabara, are you near that?" Kali calls down. You look and see a smallish slat in the wall, maybe a foot tall and two feet wide, just wide enough for you to slide down on your back without using your feet or anything. It'll be difficult, but there's no where else to go.

"I am," you offer, slipping one foot up and letting it into the hole and falling into it. Your legs manage to fit, but you wonder how Kali will do, with all her womanly curves. You press your hands to the floor and start inching yourself along with your palms as well as you can, pulling yourself through on your back.


	18. Maze

_Maze_

**Hiei**

You've been sitting in this room for about three minutes, and you're already restless. You haven't heard any of the others, yet, except for a few scratching noises as they drag themselves up the vertical tunnel. Kali says something, then Yusuke, then Kali again, and Kurama's voice is loudest, then you hear the dragging noises getting closer.

Eventually, Kurama's legs appear and he slips out of the tunnel and kneels on the floor. He looks around blankly with wide eyes, and you remember that the only reason you can see is because of the Jagan.

"I'm here," you state, pulling him upright and putting him next to the wall so he would have something to keep his hand on.

"Thank you, Hiei," he answers after he gets his hand on the wall and waits quietly.

Kuwabara gets in next, though he's been using his sword to get farther along, using the extention to shoot him through the tunnel, and he shoots out of it and lands ever-so-idiotically on his back, and he sits up and screams. You cover your ears.

"Be quiet, you fool!" you growl, dragging him by his hair to a wall so he'd be a little less lost and possibly shut up.

Yusuke is next. He slithers out onto the ground, stands up, looks around, and smirks.

"Did something in there go wrong, or am I blind, too?"

"It's just dark," Kurama says simply. "Where is Kali?"

"She was waiting for me to go. She should be coming along any minute, now," he answers, feeling along the wall and moving out of the way to the hole.

Kuwabara lights up his spirit sword, and, all of a sudden, you all can see again. You glance around. Kali slides through head first and lands in a back-bend on the floor and gracefully backflips out of the tunnel, landing gracefully on her feet before wobbling a little when her feet catch each other.

As you look around yet again, you don't see any doors. Nothing new. Kali will have to find it, again.

You do as Yusuke did, and you put her hand on the wall, and you lead her around the room, so she might realize there's no door, again, and she might find another.

"That's what Yusuke did when we were stuck, and I notice that there are no doors. So we're stuck again, yes? So I have to find a door?"

You tap her forehead three times. She nods and grins.

"Leave it to me!"

You move near the others. Kuwabara's energy is failing, you think. His sword's getting dimmer, and he's sweating.

Kali's pacing around the room, and she bumps into Kuwabara, and smiles slightly.

"You don't have to hold that Spirit sword... it's tiring you out. I don't need to see, I'm the one looking around, I'll find something. You can rest. And if I smell or feel anything, I'll let you guys know."

For some reason, the humans in the room are frightened when Kuwabara lets his light out. In fact, Kuwabara gets scared enough to cling to Kali's arm.

She laughs at him. "I'm supposed to be the scared one, at least you can hear," she says darkly as she shakes him off. He crawls along the wall until he runs into Kurama, and he clings to Kurama instead, for a second. Then he stops freaking out and sniffs lightly.

"You smell nice."

Yusuke bumps into them as he follows the scratching noises of Kuwabara crawling. Poor Kurama.

"If I may point out, Kuwabara, your hand is getting frighteningly close to the Forbidden Zone between my legs," Kurama points out, looking annoyed. Or, at least, as annoyed as he can look.

Kuwabara jumps away after a brief pause, and you smirk. Kali giggles a little as she walks over the boys and staggers. As she gets back to the corner of the room she first hit, she sniffs around the room and scowls, then pushes off the wall and walks very very slowly around the edges, though she is scared, and lost, and shaking a little more with each step.

"Boys... Are you still moving?" she asks slowly. "Be still if you are, because I think I feel something."

All the motion next to the entrance stops, and she pauses. Then she starts moving again with a sigh of relief, and jumps up to an incredible height and touches the ceiling lightly. Rocks rain down on her head, and a large one starts to fall. She staggers out of the way and falls down as it hits the floor, and she yelps in pain as another lands on her leg.

"OW! Shit! Come on, we've gotta get out of here, the way out was to start the landslide," she says quietly as she starts climbing up the boulder-thing. Kuwabara lights his Spirit Sword and starts climbing up. Yusuke jumps ahead of you, and Kurama is helping Kali, holding her under her arms and jumping his way up with her. She is having problems helping him because her leg has been hurt too badly for her to walk, right now, though you're surprised it's not broken entirely.

You get to the next safest platform, but you notice, suddenly, that there's a light. It hurts your eyes. And theirs.


	19. On the Way Out

_On the Way Out_

**Still Hiei**

The detective, the idiot, the fox, and Kali were all hurt by the falling ceiling. Kali worst of all, because she couldn't see to dodge. She has an injured leg that she says is no big deal, even though she knows that it's swollen to roughly the size of a large rock. She also has a few minor bruises, and a sprained wrist from when she took a rough fall as Kurama slipped and nearly dropped her. The worst you and the others have are bruises, and Kurama's lost a shoe and cut his foot, so you all sort of have to trudge down the hall you've found. You have to help support Kali, and Kuwabara's helping Kurama when needed. The cut on his foot is surprisingly deep. She's doing her best to not lean on you too much.

"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch," she keeps hissing every other pigeon-footed step. You don't know why, but it's going to drive you crazy sooner than Kuwabara's constant whining about his headache. That's not even why it's bothering you, you just want her to stop making that noise. Or to stop having to make that noise, you think after a bit, but you hurry to shunt it out.

Eventually, you just pick her up and carry her on your back. She seems surprised by the sudden kind gesture, but she holds onto you and whispers her thanks in your ear, and puts her mouth to your shoulder to keep her hissing in pain quiet, because, if you had to guess, it still hurts.

Yusuke pokes her nose a little. She "looks" up with her sightless eyes.

"Hiei, could you tell her 'thanks' for me?"

"Hn. Figure out your own way, detective," you answer, glaring. You don't want to look into her mind any more than you have to. Every other time you have, it's been secrets and pain, and there is a wall around it. It doesn't take much concentration to get through the wall, but her mind immediately starts attacking yours as soon as you get through the wall, and doubts and fears and pains plague you so much that you wonder why she hasn't closed herself in a small room for all of her life if there are such things in her mind.

"What is it, Yusuke?" she asks quietly. You suddenly notice that the strength in her voice is gone, almost totally, and she is shaking a little harder than before. The silence and lack of distraction has allowed her mind time to wander, as it has yours.

He pats her back and makes a tugging motion on the side of her head, probably tugging on a bit of hair lightly or her ear. She sighs and you feel her mouth move a little when she gets her mouth pressed to your shoulder again, and you know she's smiling, no matter how weakly. Yusuke smiles back a little, and you keep walking. You feel something hot and wet touch your shoulder, and she puts her face between your shoulder blades and puts her forehead to the back of your neck. You want to look and see what she's doing, but she's hiding from you on purpose, and her hands are closed even tighter around your cloak as she clings to you.

You stop as you approach a dead-end, but she doesn't look up. She just loosens her grip. "You can put me down if you want, Hiei," she whispers. You don't drop her, just yet. You hold her a little closer.

Someone drops out of the wall and appears. Not either of the two you saw before. A child, in appearance. You draw your sword, but you pull her closer when she offers to drop. She gets a tighter grip, and moves her head away from yours and tucks it a little more snugly between your shoulderblades, allowing you full mobility.

The "child" smiles at you.

"Hello," he says.

"Hello," Kurama answers. You put your sword away, for the time being.

"You're lost."

"Yes. Who are you?"

"I am Koto. I know who you are. Would you like help out of here?"

"And why should we trust you?" you growl, already not liking the look of him.

"Because we have no choice, Hiei, surely you must see that?" Kurama answers. Kali clings closer to you.

"There's something behind us," she whispers.

You clench your fist and turn to see a much bigger demon. Much bigger. You're surprised you didn't feel it, before, until it takes a step and you realize how light and weak it is. It's merely to slow you down, should you run the other way. The child is the strong one, or, perhaps, there is something bigger that waits for you.

"Why have we stopped?" Kali whispers,

"The master and mistress wish to see you," the child mentions, turning and pressing a brick in the wall. A door opens up. You four follow him, and you feel Kali's disease grow. She clings closer to you. You notice, suddenly, that the others are walking close behind you, putting her in the middle of a very protective circle. She takes her face out of your back and sniffs lightly, and settles, but doesn't loosen her grip. She puts her face back into your back, too, so you can fight if need be.

The hall widens out into a large, well lit, well-furnished room. All of your eyes hurt, and you shade them as much as you can and allow yourself sight.

"Welcome," the deep male voice says from the table. Kali clings closer to you, and makes a slight whimpering noise.

"Them again," she finally says, though you don't know if either of the humans hear it.


	20. Familiarity isn't a Good Thing

_Familiarity isn't a Good Thing_

**Still Hiei.**

The man gets up from the table and approaches you. "Kiraa!"

"Who's it talking to?"

Yusuke gets closer and pokes her shoulder.

"Me?" she asks as she pulls her head out of your back again.

"Oh, yes, that's right, the drug didn't wear off..."

"You made a big mistake when you blinded her, she's been more of a help than the rest of us," Yusuke says, probably trying to start a fight.

"Why are you carrying her? I want to see the precious Kiraa. We had no idea that "Kali" and Kiraa were the same person, because her eyes stayed covered, but we recognized her you-ki signature when she created that barrier in the water."

"Who are you talking about, Kiraa?"

You all exchange glances. You, reluctantly, tap into her mind, being pelted with her fear and rage. Kali, they're calling you Kiraa.

That is how I am known to the demon world.

Oh. Anymore secrets?

None that I actively hide.

"What do you want with us?" Kurama asks softly.

"We were raising an army to defeat her and get to Spirit world, and the Ningenkai. But, from what I can tell, it won't take an army, it will only take a little effort to get past you four, and she will be easily taken care of."

"Good luck," you spit, glaring and clenching your fist tighter. She lets you put her down, and she backs into the others, who take a hold on her. She lets out a frightened squeak when they grab her, but then she recognizes them, and she clings to Kurama's shoulders from behind him.

"I'm not going to do anything, silly boy. We are not fighters."

The floor opens up under you, and you fall through pitch blackness.

**Kurama**

Hiei falls through a trap door, and more trap doors open under your friends, but you manage to dodge to the side of yours, and you pull Kali with you. Black, thick, tentacle-like bands reach through the wall and grab your arms and waist and ankles and start trying to pull you, but the wall stops you. Kali twists from behind you and struggles to breathe as her chest is trapped between your back and the wall, until she finally wriggles free and lands not-so-neatly on the floor.

"Kurama!" she yelps as she lands. She jumps and grabs the black bands, but the man grabs her back by the waist. She fights him as well as she can, kicking and thrashing, until he binds her in a similar fashion to the way he did before you found her. Her arms are trapped to her sides again, only at the lower arms, this time, and her ankles are the only part of her legs bound, but she is still quite unable to fight. He just holds her close to him, and sits down and holds her on his lap and caresses her face lightly with his hand.

"Let me and Kurama go!" she yelps, pushing at him with her feet, bound or not.

"Why?"

"I can't hear you, fucktard, quit talking before I figure out where your mouth is and you wind up eating my foot!"

"Such brave talk."

"I warned you!" she growls, fighting free, breaking the bands, rocking onto her back and uncoiling every muscle in her body to kick him with both feet, right in the face. He goes flying. She crawls over to you, twice with a limb in a trap door, and hurting herself, but she gets to you and feels along your side until she finds your arm, and she cuts the band around that arm carefully, a little at a time, with a thread of energy, occasionally shooting at the running footsteps with her other hand, until your hand is free. She offers her hand up to you, and you help her cut your other bonds. You start to move, but a trap-door catches you, first, and you hit your ribs on the edge, but you fall. Kali, on the other hand, rolls backwards when she realizes you're falling, and you can't see her, anymore.


	21. Ohhhh, Shit

_Ohhhh, Shit._

**You**

You're left in the room with the man. You sense that the woman has gone somewhere else. he grabs your arm again and drags you into a rough kiss, and picks you up. You scream and fight until he puts you down, and then you fight it away from you, then run to the left. You hit the wall harder than you mean to, inducing a yelp of pain, and you fall down a hole when you stagger, and you fall wildly. You don't feel or smell anyone on the way down. You suddenly realize that you're falling head-first. You only just stifle your screams.

**Hiei**

You pace the room slowly. You're in a room on your own, right now. You had landed on your feet uneasily and collapsed because they weren't ready for the sudden appearance of the ground, but you're okay, other than a knot on the back of your skull, from where the ground was not such a help in breaking your very fast fall.

Then you hear a flumping noise, and a slight groan. Yusuke. Screams sound all the way down a second hole, until the thing screaming hits the ground and goes quiet. You wait for a little while, and you hear a soft noise as Kurama lands badly in a crouch, though he collapses into a small heap and doesn't move, though he moans. Then there's a period of silence, and you all wait for Kali to hit the floor.

You hear another flop, and a near-silent moan. You can see that she landed on her neck and head and shoulders, and flopped the rest of the way to the floor and bounced a little bit, and she hasn't moved since she hit the ground the second time.

"Kali."

"He tried to hold onto me. And tried to catch me," she tells you, probably thinking that you asked what took her so long or something.

"They want us, not her. They intend to drug us and use mind control, and use us as mindless soldiers in their army," you growl quietly, leaning against the wall.

"Why not Kali?" Yusuke asks.

"She is immune to mind control, and all mind-affecting drugs. Her other organs are very easily affected, thus her blindness and deafness. We weren't meant to get a hold on her, you were supposed to be taken after you found her, but I distracted them when I freed myself. We would have been trapped, if she weren't helping us find the doors. She is a risk. They were probably going to kill her, up there."

Kali makes a whimpering noise and you feel her grab your shoulders, hugging you tightly. It was frightening to her, you guess.

"It smelled like blood up there. Blood and death. That under-scent Botan carries with her," she whispers, not letting you go. "They almost had me, and now they'll have you. Goddammit, I can't fight! I feel so fucking useless!"

You stare at her, then pet her head gently. She sighs and you hear how her breath is shaking, and the flush in her face burns through your clothes, and you feel the heat on her cheeks through to your stomach. Is she weeping? you think for the second time.

After a minute, she lets go of you and puts her face in her hands and tries to hide that she's about to cry and still shaking. Yusuke sits down next to her and pulls her close to him. Her shaking calms, and she puts her face to his shoulder.

Kurama walks over to you and whispers to you, "Is there any way out of here? We can't see."

"No, there's not a way out, other than the ceiling, but none of us, not even Kali, can jump that high," you answer. Kuwabara comes to with a complaint.

"My head hurts!"

"Deal with it! Light your damn sword up, we can't see shit!" Yusuke growls. Kali moves a little, then jumps up and spins around, walking around uneasily.

"Guys, there's something coming, something big, oh, my god, guys, it's not even close and it's making so much racket, and it smells like death, it smells like blood and pain and death!"

She sounds panicked. It worries you to hear someone as powerful as her, blind and deaf or not, to sound so frightened. She keeps walking backwards, holding her hands out, probably completely lost. Then you feel it walking, too, and you get scared. It's big. And you can sense it. It's powerful, too. It was going to take all of you to bring this down when Kali could fight. And now she can't, and the rest of you don't stand anything resembling a chance, with her fighting ability gone.

**Third person point of view**

The wall breaks down. Kali doesn't make any sound and doesn't move, yet. Yusuke gets up, Kuwabara pulls out his Spirit sword, Hiei has his fist already on fire, and Kurama has his rose whip out in a little less than an instant. Kali gets up as Yusuke does, but she just backs to the wall and stays there.

"Who first?" Yusuke asks.

"I think this will take a team effort. Hiei, save your strength. Kuwabara should run out of energy, and you will be the only one that can see," Kurama cautions

"He won't kill us, but he's strong enough to not have to," Hiei says.

No one notices Kali stand up in the back of the room. Her back is pressed to the wall, and, suddenly, a spirit shotgun hits the creature in its belly. It staggers slightly. Hiei takes the opportunity to start using his attack of the mortal flame where he can get it in, ignoring Kurama's warning to be cautious. Yusuke fires a few shots from his Spirit Gun and hits him in the nose, and Kurama tries to cut up one of his legs or arms, whichever happens to be more in-reach, and Kuwabara hacks uselessly at its leg. Kali helps when she can, but it moves a lot, and it's hard to get a clear shot when all you know is where its right foot lands when he staggers.

Kurama, surprisingly, is the first to go. He is thrown when he wraps his whip a little too tightly around a particularly thick part of his arms. It is cut, but its limb is still attached, and it uses this to throw Kurama into the wall. Kali hears him hit and goes to him and drags him close to her, waiting quietly for a shot.

At the same time Kuwabara is taken out, something in the wall lunges out for Kurama. She snatches him back and drags him back to her, and uses her energy to bring Kuwabara over to her, and she creates a barrier around the three of them and protects them from the bastards in the wall.

Hiei is third to go. He gets punched into the wall when he tries to stab it in the head. She pulls him to her, also, but has to let the barrier fall. Kuwabara gets nearly dragged through the wall, and she drags him back by the ankle that happened to have hooked her arm.

"Yusuke, when he knocks you out, fall this way, would you!?" she calls. Yusuke is having trouble fighting in the dark, but Kali's barrier offers enough light for him to aim, and she's helping out where she can, as well.

"I'll try!" he grunts, getting kicked into the wall. Kurama comes to, and jumps through the barrier to help, but Kuwabara hasn't even offered to stir, yet.

**Kurama**

The creature finally falls. Yusuke passes out on the floor, but you manage to keep consciousness. Kali, by now, is laying on the floor, sightless-eyes closed, and keeping her palms pressed to the floor. You drag Yusuke as you force your way through the barrier, ignoring the burning pain, and check on the others. Yusuke will be out until his energy returns enough, Hiei has been stirring for a while, now, and Kuwabara will, probably, jump up any time soon.

You pick Kali up very carefully, but she doesn't drop the barrier. It travels with her.

"Good girl, Kali," you murmur to her. She rocks against you. You get to the middle of the room, where the bands seem to have too much trouble getting to you, and you sit down, holding her in your lap.

She sighs and puts her face to your arm.

You feel bad for not trusting her only a day ago, and worrying that she may kill all of you. She's very honest, and very loyal, and the most evil she seems capable of is needing this in return. She is probably more likely to turn into a gigantic centipede that likes to dance to polka than to harm any of the four of you with malicious intent.

As Hiei and Kuwabara return to consciousness, you stand up and shift Kali to your back. Kuwabara does the same for Yusuke. Hiei is left without any extra weight, and you walk slowly through the opening the monster left. Hiei cuts the various attempts at seizing you, until, finally, they stop, and the man and woman appear in front of you.

Less than an instant passes before their heads have hit the ground, and Hiei is standing off to the right with his sword wide to the left.

"Tired. So fucking tired," Kali whispers as she stretches for the ground.

She drops the barrier, and she gets strangely heavier on you, and too limp to manage to move so you can carry her.

Hiei takes her when you kneel, and you start to walk while he holds her to his chest, almost protectively.

You keep pace with Hiei, though Kuwabara is falling behind little by little, and you wait for him to tap your mind. When he does, you can ask your question.

I don't think we have any reason to fear her. Anyone that trusts so easily is trustworthy.

I suppose you'd know all about that, hm. What about all her secrets? Hiei answers, shooting a glare out of the corners of his eyes.

Hiei, you're carrying her because she risked herself to save us with little regard to her own safety. Besides, I may point out that you have hidden your fair share of things through our adventures together.

Of course, the only answer you get is "Hn." But you know that he knows that she is honorable, and you know that he can't make any move to hurt her until she betrays that trust


	22. Duties

_Duties_

**Yusuke**

You wake up in the floor of a small room. Kali is sleeping near you, Hiei is next to her, and Kuwabara's leaning against the wall with Kurama looking over various wounds.

"Why are we still here?"

"Koenma won't let us leave, yet. We still need to take care of the army. Kali or Hiei will have to do it. There is no chance of recovery for any of them. We will need to simply make the end for them as quick as possible."

"So, what, we're gonna slaughter all of them?"

"He wants Kali to do it. Her methods of murder are less painful than Hiei's, but we will have to be careful with her. She hasn't got much control. She doesn't use her energy, she borrows it. Similar to Hiei's Dragon before he mastered it.

You growl. "He wants us to slaughter a whole _army_?!"

"No. He wants her to do it. All we have to do is point her in the right direction," Kurama corrects, looking pained.

"NO!" A rage has begun to boil in your innards, and you are tempted to scream and beat Kurama up, but it's not right, because he only delivered the news.

"That's it. Koenma's dead meat."

A soft noise, then a cry of pain and fear startles all of you conscious. Kali stands up and looks around, but when she realizes she can't see anything, she screams more. You and Kurama step toward her, but she's backing into a wall, trembling madly, being as quiet as possible. You move closer to her and hug her slowly. She pushes you away.

"Who are you!?"

Kurama sighs again and pulls his rose out of his hair and hands it to her carefully. She sniffs it, then hands it back. "Kurama. Yusuke, then?" You tap her forehead. She nods. "I'm sorry I screamed, guys. I forgot about... this... and... I got scared..."

You pat her back and help her to her feet. She takes a heavily-limping step forward.

Hiei stirs and sits up.

"How long have I been out?" is his first question. "And why are we still here?"

"Koenma won't let us go back until we finish up, here," you answer glumly. Kali is led by Kurama into a room. The rest of you follow. You see the thousands and thousands of psychics, demons, humans, so on and so forth below you. All of them are eating, fighting, or sleeping. Brainless and unaware. Maintaining their bodies because of the order to do so.

He walks out onto a platform, maybe... three inches across. She puts one foot on it, then steps back, releasing his hand and shaking her head.

"I can't! I don't have the balance without my eyes, I'll fall. I don't know how far a drop it is, but I don't want to figure it out. Not to mention I can't walk anything but a six-foot-wide path with this leg being half-crushed."

Hiei sighs and grabs her and picks her up and jumps over to the four-by-four plate of metal that Kurama was going to lead her to. She lets go and puts one foot down tentatively.

"Now what?"

"How do we tell her to attack?"

"Hiei... could you please use your telepathy?"

"I don't want to," he answers, glaring heatedly.

"But there's no other way."

He glares a little more. "If any of you ask me to do it again, I'll kill you," he growls.

* * *

**Hiei**

You tap into her mind once again, this time bombarded with confusion and fears and anger.

Kali. We need you to do a very very big, wide-range, destructive attack.

Where?

You push her, carefully, onto her stomach and point her hands down at the ground. There.

Hiei, what's down there? The attack on your mind has shifted to guilt and hate and rage and regret.

You don't answer. Just do it.

She "looks" at you, and a tear falls out of her eye, but she takes in a huge breath and hums quietly a requiem of some kind, you're sure, and you have to turn your back. You enjoy making someone hurt as much as the next person, but these are innocents. You turn, finally, when you see the look of terror on everyone else's face. She is still laying on her stomach and holding her hands down, but her whole body is flaring with wild, untamed energy, and she is slowly pulling it into her. Her mouth is wide open, and she is no longer humming. She is screaming.

And, suddenly, all you see is a bright flash of light, and the force of her attack sends you reeling backwards, and you have to stagger on the railing, and you nearly fall. Yusuke and Kuwabara have been thrown against the railing of the over-seeing bridge, and Kurama has staggered, as well. You look down and you can see that everyone below you has been reduced to a pile of ash. She doesn't move. She lays still, and she weeps quietly.

"I felt it. I just ended thousands of lives..." she whispers. "How could I do that? I'm a terrible person. Oh, god, someone get me out of here," she whispers, and then her voice gets louder and she begins to sound frantic. "I can smell them, please, someone, get me out of here!" She is making a wavering screamish sound, and you can hardly stand to hear the pain in her voice.

You pick her up and jump back to the others. She jerks away from you as soon as her feet are firmly on the ground, and she flees back to the room you were in, brushing the doorway with her shoulder. You hear her weeping in there, too. All of you look at each other, but none of you go to comfort her.

Kurama draws the communicator out of his pocket and looks into it.

"Koenma... she has... k... ta... d... done her... duties..." To emphasize or clarify his statement, he leaps over to the platform you and her were on, and he points the visual of the communicator down at the ground below you.

Koenma makes a slight noise. Kurama looks back at the communicator.

"We had to do it, Kurama. If we didn't, they would continue to eat, sleep, and fight until the ones sleeping and fighting starved, and the others never slept and would eventually die of exhaustion.We were more humane when Kali killed all of them that quickly."

"Tell that to her," Yusuke growls, clenching his fist.

"Let me see her."

"She can't hear or see you," Yusuke answers, taking the communicator over to Kali, showing her curled into a ball and staring straight forward with blood-looking tears leaking from her eyes. Kurama sees her and goes to pick her up. He gets to her, but she lashes out at him and he falls back. She glares blankly and sits quietly with her eyes closed. You, eventually decide that she's asleep. Yusuke goes and picks her up gently and cradles her in his arms. A portal appears, and you all climb through.

About two seconds after all of you are in the room, Kali moans and sits up, blinking around aimlessly. "I'm sorry," she whispers as she drops out of Yusuke's arms. "Someone lead me to my room, and when we get there, do not go inside, and all of you leave me alone until I have come out."

Yusuke takes her hand and leads her up to her room slowly, and she shuts the door, and that's the last of her that any of you see for the next eighteen hours.

* * *

None of you ever see her, but all of you hear weeping, screaming, cursing, and banging coming out of the room for seventeen hours straight, and an hour more of complete silence. Then she emerges with her still-heavy-limp, bleeding and bruised, apparently having damaged herself in her rage, and she rests on the stairs until she goes back in to sleep. 


	23. Newborn Kitten

_Newborn Kitten_

**You**

You feel yourself shout when you suddenly realize you're feeling the ground suddenly not be there when you put your foot down. The stairs. You roll a little, but someone catches you and puts you on your feet. You sniff lightly. Yusuke, or Kuwabara. The sweaty smell is all you recognize. Since the "swimming trip", that's all you've been able to smell, water and what hints of the other smells the boys had picked up or managed to gain back.

He pulls on your ear a little bit to tease you. You've come to recognize that means "It's okay, I've got you," in Yusuke-sign. He helps you down the rest of the stairs, holding one hand with his and keeping his other hand on your back.

You thank him. He tugs on your ear again. His arm over your back disappears, and he's pulling gently down and back. You take the hint and sit down, half on someone's lap, hopefully Yusuke's, and you slide off. Your mouth moves to grin.

A vibration rings in the air and you feel the tingle on your face. Someone's talking on your left. You stretch your arm to the right to see where you are on the couch, and your hand winds up on Hiei's shoulder. You're sitting on the middle of the couch, then. You apologize to Hiei and sigh a little. You feel safer, now that you're in spirit world, but you're still aware of how vulnerable you are.

You ask how many more days this is gonna take to wear off, and you feel two taps on one side of your neck, and three on the other. So either the information between Hiei and Yusuke is mixed, or they don't have a specific answer. When you ask if the information is mixed, you feel a simple, heavy tap on your chin. Hiei.

Delighted with yourself for knowing that, you grin and bounce a little.

Someone else talks. The vibrations are heavier. Kuwabara?

You close your eyes and stretch and pop your neck, then lean to the right, forgetting that Hiei's there, but not getting up when you realize you're leaning on him, mainly because the contact of another person in the room is pleasant. You can sort of smell certain things on them, and you know if something's happening that you should move away from.

Another set of vibrations hit you, and then another, and another, getting stronger. Shouting.

Something hits you in the chest, suddenly, and you yelp in pain, then punch a whole wave of energy in the direction of the thing that hit you. You feel the vibrations around you stop, except for weak ones on the floor. You get to your feet uneasily, and take a few cautious steps forward, until your foot hits something on the floor, something living, and you lean next to it and hold your hand down and wait for whoever it is to take your hand so you can help them up. You hit a soft and squishy something under your hand, and suddenly, the thing you touched shifts away from you, and something grabs your wrist, and he, you guess, twists it as he gets up. You sniff lightly, but the smell is unfamiliar, yet. Koenma? Ender?

Vibrations hit your face, and something hits the floor, similar to footsteps, and someone touches your shoulder. You're completely lost, now, unable to discern where in the room you are, and not knowing who the fuck is around you.

More vibrations sound, and there's more shouting all around you, until you finally freak out enough to scream, and they all stop again, and someone hugs your shoulders and pulls you away from the thing holding your wrist. The person holding your wrist pulls you back to him, and there's another shouting match, until the one holding your shoulders pries the hand holding your wrist away and pulls you away. Someone else steps in front of you, but the one holding your shoulders leads you out of the room or something.

You grumble and ask if that was some other psychic or something. A tap on your forehead makes you wince. You ask if you made him angry when you attacked him, and that's why he was pissed, and another tap connects with your chin. You want to know why he's so angry, but you can't ask.

You feel Kuwabara's voice bounce loudly around the room, and then the others make small noises, and someone hugs your shoulders. Yusuke, you think. He's the only one that would hug you, or, maybe, Kuwabara in an attempt to get in a cheap feel.

You sigh a little and state that you're hungry, will anyone lead you to the kitchen. You feel your own voice waves, and you suddenly realize that you're being quieter than normal, but there's no harm in that. Someone, Kurama if you judge by the smell, takes your hand and helps you by starting to lead you, but you pull your hand away and start trying to walk by yourself. You've got a few more days like this, you might as well get over it and start learning to deal. Might be helpful if you learn now.

Kurama walks steadily in front of you, and you follow his footseps. You feel tiny footsteps following you in a lope, and you pause in the walking as you feel voice vibrations hitting your back.

You call to Kurama. He walks back to you, and stops near you. You feel a discussion taking place. The second voice vibrations are coming from near the floor. Koenma!

You bounce a little on your toes and laugh when you realize that you're getting better at this, and you're getting used to it. A pause in the vibrations between Kurama and Koenma, and you feel a tap on your nose, then a tug on the hair at the nape of your neck.

You don't know why he did that, but when you ask, he tugs at the hair again, very gently, and he taps your throat.

You think he's talking about whether or not you can talk, but you grumble that you have no idea what the hell he's 'talking' about.

Hiei's voice in your head barks at you. He's asking you what the hell you're laughing about. The tug on your hair was the "why" or "what".

Useful information, you decide, and you nod a little bit, then explain that you're happy you're getting so used to your current state enough that you can figure out that it was Koenma he was talking to. You turn and start to walk again, wishing that you could find the wall, when you suddenly kick it. You put your hand on it and count doors until you get to the kitchen, and you keep tracing your hands along the wall until you get to the fridge. Surely to god there's some deli meat in there or something, you think/grumble, feeling around gently. A pitcher of something. You pull that out and sniff. Lemonade.

A hand pulls you away from the fridge by a shoulder, and you hit whoever's arm that is and cross yours. You sit on the floor for a minute. You feel Kurama or someone walking around the kitchen. Someone else walks in behind you and trips over you. You put your hand over your mouth and stand up and offer a hand down in the direction you felt them fall. A very small, soft hand takes yours. One of the girls. You sniff lightly over her, and you touch lightly at her hair, just a second. Yukina. She has an eerily similar scent to Hiei. You smile. Now you know who his sister is. Aga had been refusing to tell you.

You apologize to Yukina and pat her shoulder very lightly. She leaves you, you hardly feel her speaking at all, and she keeps going through the room.

You feel something heavy walk through the kitchen. Kuwabara, or some other person that has no idea how to carry their weight. You feel loud noises as a substitute for a voice, and you know that it's Kuwabara after that.

Kuwabara sits next to you, you think, and you know for a fact that he's sitting where you think he is when you feel something touch your hair very gently. You punch in the direction of the thing that's touching you, and your fist connects with something, and they fall over, or almost fall over, or hit the floor or something. You get to your feet and growl something about assholes, taking advantage of a blind girl. You sit down on the counter and wait for Kurama to put a plate in your hands. You hold your hands over the plate and touch lightly at each item. p Simple foods, potato chips, carrot sticks, and a ham sandwich or something. You sniff. Ham. Something watery. Something else watery, a tomato or something... You take a bite out of it cautiously, then finish it off before you get too much of a chance to think about it, and then do the same with the chips, and then eat the carrot sticks. You wish you could hear yourself eating. To hear anything besides this goddamned silence would relieve you.

**Boys**

"I feel kinda sorry for her," Yusuke murmurs.

"Me, too," Kuwabara seconds. Kurama sighs a little and watches her as she keeps her palm pressed to the wall as she makes her way up the stairs slowly and goes to her room.

"I kinda feel bad, too, for thinkin' she might try to hurt us."

"Yeah, me, too..."


	24. Making Friends

_Making Friends_

**You**

You sit up in your bed and open your eyes and realize that there is way too much light in your room, and as soon as you realize that this means you can see again, you let out a very loud whoop, suddenly overcome with giddiness.

"I can see!"

Ender punches the wall and grumbles something. You heard it! The sound hurt your ears, but you HEARD it!

You run out of the room and hug Ender around the waist, then front-flip through the portal in the hall closet, and land in your normal seat in Koenma's office. He doesn't look up at you, and he doesn't say anything, but he knocks on his desk, which was his acknowledgement of your existance for the past few days. But when you put your feet on the desk, he glances up. "Hello, Koenma," you sing happily.

"Your sight's back. Can you hear me?"

"Way too fucking loud and clear!" He smiles at you, and you back tumble out of the chair, knocking it over and run out into the hall and run up the wall and backflip off, then run down the hall, delighted that you don't have to keep your hand on the wall to not know what's in the way. You brush shoulders with Kurama, and you say "Excuse me, Kurama," but he doesn't look at you. Then you grab his shoulder. He doesn't look up, until you tug at the hair on the back of his head, and then he looks up to see your happy face. "Kali?" he asks slowly.

"Yep. Ears and eyes working to their fullest ability, and I have to thank you so much for being such a great help!" You hug his neck and kiss his cheek. He turns pinker than normal, but you're all too happy to notice or care. A thudding down the stairs signals the arrival of Yusuke, and you grin and pull yourself up them and hug his neck, too, and kiss his cheek. He smiles at you wearily. "Thank you, soooo much, Yusuke!"

"Wait. You're being louder than normal. You can hear? And you can see?" he asks, smiling brighter than he was. You nod happily. Kuwabara slams the door, though you don't know why he's here, you jump off the stairs, almost literally bounce off the floor to the ceiling and you land on Kuwabara's head and shoulders and cling happily.

"HELLO!"

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!"

You start picking at his hair, noticing little things on his scalp from where he hasn't cleaned his hair in a long time, and you are utterly delighted with the fact that you can see them. He starts trying to throw you off, and finally manages it. You hit the wall and fall to the floor with a thump, and you jump and run along the ceiling again and land on the top of the stairs and you thunder down those, then back up, then take the railing down, sliding on your feet. Then everything goes quiet when you hear a door slamming open upstairs.

"Uh-oh!" you say, though your facial expression says that you are utterly delighted to have woken up Hiei. You're still standing on the railing at the bottom of the stairs.

He walks down the stairs with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed, and strangely calm, considering what you thought would be Hiei's rage. But then you get a better look at him and see that he is dripping with hate and want to murder.

"Hello, Hiei, did I wake you up?" you ask teasingly, not meaning to let your voice be as high as it is.

"Yes. You did."

He starts to run at you, and you drop off the railing, but then Kurama gestures to step farther back and you jump backwards and land on the training field, kneeling. He lands about ten feet away from you and runs at you and attempts to stab you. You jump up and land on the sword, plant your foot in the middle of it, and kick him in the face before he has time to react.

As he pulls away from the kick, you have to back flip off the sword, and you land on his shoulders lightly and kick off as he falls to the ground, and you only just have enough time to bckbend to avoid Hiei's suddenly thrown katana at you. It flies over you and sticks in the ground. You run over to it and throw it to him, hilt first. He catches it and runs at you again. You jump clear over him, but as you get over him, he jumps up, and you have to twist in the air to see him coming at you. The blade catches your right side, and hurts like hell, and he twists the tip of the blade just a little, and you catch him in the head with a firm kick, and both of you hit the ground, clutching wounds. He smirks at you.

"Thanks, Hiei," you say quietly, looking over at Kurama and climbing into the portal he creates. Hiei climbs through after you, and as a sign of gratitude, you don't hug him, but you do make a very large breakfast and he gets to pick what you make. Though it's really hard to figure out what he's wanting, because he won't ask for it, he just watches, and you have to pay attention to the grunts and facial expressions.

You sit on the couch and lean on Yusuke calmly, watching the movie with him for a minute. He puts his arm over your shoulders. You don't know what the connection between you is, but you like it.

Then, eventually, you get up and go find Hiei. You dunno why, but you wanna be near him more than the others, so, naturally, you go find a tree and climb into it. He's in it, maybe about five feet and on the other side of the tree.

"Hello, Hiei," you mumble up to him. He grunts in return. "Thanks a whole lot, for helping me when I was blind... Unlike Yusuke, you didn't have a reason, as least I saved his ass from his teacher."

He doesn't say anything. You wonder if he heard you, but there's no way he couldn't have. And then you wonder if he's angry at you for kicking him in the the head, or if he's still pissed about you waking him up. Then you decide that he's allowed to be mad at you if he wants to be, and you wait for a while. Somehow, just being in his presence is nice. Then you catch yourself and figure out what exactly it is you're feeling for him, and you quickly climb down and leave and find Kurama, who is working on his window-garden thing. You climb up the wall as well as you can to stand on the little doghouse below his window to talk to him.

"Hello, Fox-boy," you say cheerfully.

"Hello, Kali," he answers, pouring some more water on the flowers.

"Whatchya doin'?"

"Watering my camomile. Did Hiei talk to you?"

"No, stingy little shit," you answer with a grin.

"Strange. You'd think he'd talk to you, he admires you quite a bit."

"Hah, right, and Kuwabara's making A's in class."

"Everything but math, but that's because I'm no better at teaching that than I am at assuming everyone is a dirty liar. He can't understand basic formulae."

You giggle a little.

He leans down and offers a hand to you. You let him help you get into the window without harming any of his plants, and you take your shoes off and leave them on the dog-house thing below you and sit on his floor, even though he beckons for you to sit on his bed.

"Hello, Kurama," you say after a while of silence.

"Hello, " he answers. He smiles charmingly at you.

"Why'd you pull me up here?"

"I don't know. I suppose because I wanted to learn more about you. I already know that you know that we didn't think too much of your intentions a few days ago, but since you trusted us so easily, and relied on us when you had no defenses, whatsoever, we felt that, perhaps, if you could lean on us, we could lean on you."

You scowl a little, but then you smile when you realize that he's offering you a chance to earn his trust.

"One question I have to ask, first. Why didn't you trust me? You had no reason to doubt me."

"Mainly because I sense... malice in you. You gave Kuwabara the chills, and you frightened me, and there was nothing about you that seemed good."

"Touching. Explains why no one talks to me when I do go into town or something. I emit an aura of evil and destruction!"

"Well... the nickname may help..."

"Oh, you'll probably learn why I'm called that in a while," you mumble.

"Oh."

A comfortable silence passes between you. You wait for it to end.

"I hope you don't mind, and please be careful, but Youko would like to speak with you," he says simply. You nod a little and sit against the wall. Youko appears in Kurama's place. You settle on the floor and wait calmly for Youko to get a good look at you. "Hello, Youko," you mumble. He smiles and leans over to you and gets close. You glare at him, quirking your eyebrow.

"You are a pretty one," he says, touching lightly at your chin and pushing it up so he can get a better look at you. You, with a calm that surprises you, push his hand away and get to your feet.

"Youko, I'll warn you now, I am not afraid to kick your ass, no matter the class you are."

"Don't worry, darling, I wouldn't risk it. I believe you. Besides, the feelings between you and Hiei are enough to weaken your mood with time..." he whispers.

"Me and Hiei? The fuck is wrong with you?"

"Simple observation on my human body's observation. We are different, you realize."

"Yeah, duh."

He smiles, then pecks your cheek. "Until next time," he whispers, before Kurama appears. You're relieved to see someone that isn't seven feet tall standing over you.

"You know, I'm surprised he managed to pass off any thievery whatsoever, being that big. And lanky."

"He is quite skillful," Kurama responds as he moves back to his seat on the bed and has a quiet conversation with his soul.

"So you think there's something between Hiei and I?"

He doesn't say anything, but he smiles at you. "I believe that those were suspicions of the second soul in me, rather than my own opinions, and I believe that he was casting about for reasons of his rejection."

"Youko's good-looking, I admit, but I dun like him," you say with a semi-cheerful smile. "I just wish he didn't look so much like a girl. Oh, but, you don't really think I believe that you and him aren't the same person, do you? I know full well that you're him, just with different personas. Can't sneak around me like that."

Kurama turns pink, but he doesn't say anything. You get up and hop back out the window, careful to avoid harming his plants, and landing on the dog-house thing to pick up your shoes, slide them on, then drop the rest of the way to the ground. And land on Kuwabara. Again.

"Hello," you say in surprised tones. "Why are you here?"

"Uhhh..."

"Knock on the head make you forget?" you tease, rubbing his head semi-affectionately, mostly teasingly.

"Uhhhh..."

"I'll take that as a 'Yes, Kali, you made me forget what I was going to go do when you landed on my stupid head,' and go about my merry way," you say quickly, still oddly hyper, and you make a run for the kitchen.

You almost have lunch cooked. All of the boys are waiting on you at the table, though Kuwabara and Yusuke continuously whine about the time you're taking. Koenma comes into the room and clears his throat. You look up at him, but you're not the one he wants. He gestures Kurama and Yusuke over to him and leads them outside the door, and begins talking to them on the way to the office.

"I have something I need one of you two to do for me..."


	25. Knife in the Back

_Knife in the Back_

"Hello," you sing, skipping over to Kurama in the nigh-dusk air. The breeze that's singing through the air is nice, and the fact that you can see the orange sky and hear the evening birds feels like a miracle. He looks up at you from the small patch of garden he's got in his yard.

"Ah, Kali," he says, sounding a little surprised. "I'm sorry, I wasn't expecting company, or I'd be more presentable." He brushes some of the dirt off his hands and stands up to brush more off his knees and shirt.

"Surprise visit," you say. "Mom sent me. Said you'd told her you'd give her some flower seeds or something and told me to come get them, seeing as my bike is more at hand and faster. And my eyes are better, now, so I wanted to celebrate."

"I see. Well, I don't have any seeds available at the moment. I just planted the remainder of the ones I meant to give her. Tell her that I'm very sorry, it slipped my mind. Would you like to come inside?"

You look at his house, then at him, biting your lips. You're not sure what to say, you kinda wanna go home. He's got... a bad... vibe, right now.

You shake your head. "No, thanks, Kurama, I think I have something to do..."

"Are you sure? Wouldn't you like some tea?" he asks.

You nod slowly. He seems pretty insistant for his normal self. You're wondering if Youko hasn't gotten a grasp on his mind.

You sit at his table, staring at the beautifully painted fox on it, and you consider etching a bad word into it, but it wouldn't be nice to Kurama or his mother, so you settle your hands in your pockets. He returns with some tea and a couple of cups that you're surprised he hasn't dropped. He looks like he should have dropped them the instant he got them off the surface he'd put them on to pick them up.

"Are you alright?" he eventually asks after pouring your cups of tea.

"Why do you ask?"

"I've seen you around town. You look unhappy. Is anything wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

"Are you certain? You seem ill, or angry, every time I see you. And you've gone pale just now. Are you sick?"

"The stuff's wearing off." Then, you pause, and a surprising question comes to mind. "Do you trust me?"

He doesn't answer, but he seems to want to.

You smile. "Good."

He looks at you questioningly. "You don't want us to trust you?"

"Anyone that doesn't trust me generally has good reason. I always wind up hurting them in the end, once they start to trust me."

"What has happened?" By his tones, you can tell he knows already.

"Every partner I've had has died or been very badly hurt by my hand, or the lack thereof," you whisper, unable to pick up your voice. You don't mean to say it. It just slips out. You've wanted to say it for so long, though. Ever since the first one died. "That's why Koenma gave me you guys. He figured that I'd hurt one of you guys and it would be fine and dandy, because the other three would be there to take care of the one I hurt, until I eventually learned what I was doing or not doing that wound up wounding and/or killing twelve other partners. Well, that's one reason he gave me you guys. He's been taking a little more and a little more advantage all of my powers, and he's afraid I'll go renegade. I'm sure that he's already spoken to you guys about what weaknesses he knows of?"

There's a long, very pregnant silence in the room. Three times, you draw breath to speak, and five times, he does, but neither says anything until Kurama manages to word what he's going to say.

"I'm sorry you have caused such pain. Perhaps it is rough training?" he suggests. You know he's joking, and you consider hitting him. You notice that he doesn't answer your question, so you assume you're right.

"I'd hit you, but I think that you know I want to is enough."

"I'm sorry, Kali, I must apologize. But what have you done? What's happened to them all?"

"Damn straight you must apologize. I don't know what's happened. Sometimes it's in the middle of a fight, sometimes it's during a mission, sometimes it's because I didn't teach them well enough when they started off on their own. Most of the ones that lived needed to be retaught how to fight, because I'd taught them badly, or they couldn't use my method of attack or stealth. I'm not a teacher. I know how to make someone stronger my way, but no way else. It causes problems."

Kurama nods a little and pets the sore spot on his head, then stands up as his mother walked into the room with a couple of bags of groceries. Kurama heads straight for her and takes the bags from her, then moves to put them up. You stay where you are, but you stand up and bow to his mother.

"Oh, Shuuichi, who's your guest? Is that her motorcycle outside?" the woman asks, looking at you with a weak curiousity.

"I'm , ma'am, nice to meet you. Yes, that's my motorcycle," you say automatically, assuming your manners and bowing again slightly.

"It's so nice that my Suichi has finally brought a girl home. It's been such a long time since he's brought friends over," she says kindly. Kurama smiles slightly and takes her arm in his.

"Come, Mother, you must be tired. Why don't you get some rest?"

"But... the groceries..."

" will help me take care of them, Mother."

"Yes, alright... The garden is lovely, Suichi," she says as he leads her out of the room. You sit back down and wait a few minutes, staring at your cooling tea.

"I apologize for my mother. She's been mildly ill, but she's a little stubborn about getting her rest," he says when he returns and sits down. "Is there anything you would like to talk about?"

"No, not really," you mutter, still staring at your tea.

"You've not drunk any of your tea."

"Not thirsty," you mutter.

Another pause lasts between the two of you. "I've not poisoned it, Kali. You saw me pour it, and I drank from my own cup."

"There is more than one way to slip poison into a cup. And I don't think you'd poison me. You helped me so much back at that castle while I was blind."

"Very fair point," he says solemnly. You shift where you sit and sigh a little, then get to your feet.

"I should go," you finally say. You take a sip of your tea, finally, so as not to be rude, and you down half the cup when you discover how good it tastes. Then you move to your feet and pick up your cup and take it to the sink and pour it out. You see a very fine powder in the bottom of your cup, very red. The tea was mldly green-yellow. You make a face. Was he seriously trying to poison you? You put a finger in it and sniff lightly at it, but no particular smell springs out at you. You look back at Kurama, then scowl. Nothing yet. You stand for a second, and wash out the cup carefully, not leaving any of the powder in the cup, but you begin to feel dizzy and collapse to the floor.

"I'm going to kill you," you manage to spit as you hear footsteps close to you. You recognize the pants leg and grab his ankle and force it out from under him and make him fall hard to the floor. You grab his collar and drag him toward you. He looks like he's hurt, or he feels ill, but it only makes you angrier.

"What did you do to me?" you demand as his image swirls in front of you, strangely in and out of focus. "What was that stuff?"

"I am sorry, Kali," he says softly, picking you up as well as he can. You struggle to be put down, but he has a very firm grip on you, and he takes you up to his room and puts you on his bed, then pulls out a communicator.

"She's prone, right now. Not as prone as I would like, but the drink got cold before she drank it, and she only drank about half."

You hear another voice on the other end of the communicator, Koenma's. "That's good. Give her a bit of a shot of it, and see what good it does. I would hurry if I were you, she will not be happy when she can move."

"She's not happy now!" you yelp before Kurama puts his hand over your mouth to stifle your complaints. You try to take his hand away, but the drug or whatever is taking a firmer effect.

"Ouch," you mutter, feeling a needle in your hip. You almost twist and punch him in the face, but you can't manage to move yourself, and you lay flat, trying to focus through the effects.

Kurama sighs a little bit and looks back into the communicator. "Koenma, sir, we're all going to hell for this," he hisses, sounding out of character, but you can't agree more.

_B, C, D, E, F, C... No. A, G... I'll kill him. I'm going to kill all of them._

You open your mouth to speak, but your speech is heavily slurred. You can almost swear that you're being completely still, but you feel your jaw hit your chest.

"Whaaaa havvve yoooou donne to mmmmm... mm..." you slur, trying to roll off the bed and having very little luck.

"Koenma, sir, she's still conscious. And moving. I gave her almost twice the normal amount, because you did say this is a mind drug, plus what she drank..."

"I should have known. I'll send someone to take care of her."

"Wh... Pashtert... Whash yooou gooeeennnnn too ooh?"

"Are you asking what I'm going to do?"

You nod as well as you can, but judging by the blurriness of your sight, you nodded pretty wide.

He nods back. "I'm not going to do anything. Koenma was wanting to do more tests on you and your energy. I am sorry. He made me "volunteer" for the job of weakening you so that he may. He thought it might be necessary because the last time hurt so much, and he'd have to enclose you, so that you didn't hurt anyone with any surge of energy," he explains evenly. He pulls your arm over his shoulder and pretty much drags you to the back door. "He chose me because he thought that I would be the one you trusted most next to Yusuke. He would have been chosen, but Yusuke trusts you, and he wouldn't try to poison you. He thinks very highly of you."

Ender approaches, looking at you with eyes that reek of pity. You sniff the air and you can smell the fear in both Kurama and Ender.

"Hahaha... ha... ha..." you sputter, sucking in the spit on your lips and slumping forward and falling to the ground.

"Wow. What's she laughing at?"

"I don't know. I think she thinks it's funny that we drugged her at all. Or she's scared. Or something."

_Idiots. I'm laughing because_ you're _scared._

"She's not scared. You are. That's what's funny," Hiei says, voicing your thoughts that you can't voice at the moment.

"Oh."

"Yes. She's still got her mind. She's just lost control of her body to a very large extent. I suggest you hurry up. I don't think that drug will last much longer," Hiei says. You detect cynism in his voice, and even anger. _Why's he pissed?_

"You realize what a very stupid thing it is you're doing is, don't you? She can still kill you," Hiei growls, sounding even angrier, even though he's masking it. As much as you can tell, anyway.

After a little thought, you realize that he's right, this is a stupid ass thing to do. The drug is not all it would take to keep them safe, it would also take your self-restraint and your calm. If you lost it now, you could kill them, easily enough. They would die, and you would be plagued no more, until someone found you, or it wore off. And all it would take was a bit too much panic.

Ender makes a face, then taps Kurama's shoulder. "Kurama, give the stuff to me. She'll need another dose on the way."

Kurama flees into the house, and Hiei picks you up and holds you. You take in his scent, and you relax a little, but you feel your energy level rise even as you physically relax.

"Oush... Hursh..." you mutter when someone accidentally hits your already-aching head against the door. They spread you over Ender's, your mother's, and Hiei's lap, your head being in Hiei's and your feet being in your mother's

"Mmm... gonn... khhill you... alllllllll..."

"Drive fast," your mother instructs. Ender inserts the needle in your hip again, and you wriggle.

"Ooough... Y..." you mumble, now tired of speaking.

"I think she's angry at me," you hear Kurama say from the front seat.

"Yyyesssssh, shhhheee iss!" you say, wriggling lamely, before you fall still again, no longer able to even flop yourself around, like your whole body's asleep and numb.

"I think she's going cold..."

"Just a little. That's normal when she sleeps," Ender says. "Just be glad she can't move."

You're not asleep, yet, but you feel it creeping up on you. You scream as loud as you can, mainly angry, and everyone in the car cries out in pain and you roll onto the floorboard as the car makes a sudden stop, but from there, you're unconscious, and you don't remember anything.


	26. Still a Study Subject

_Still a Study Subject._

Something sharp jammed into your arm is your wake-up call.

"Fuckers," you mutter before you realize that the guys aren't in the room. They're in a glass box up towards the top of the room. It's supposed to be a one-way mirror, but you can see Koenma's face through it. You glare at him.

"I'm going to kill you before the end of my life. I hope you know that," you sputter. You look at the arm that hurt, and you realize that there is an IV in it.

"You lot tried to kill me!" you whine loudly. "You tried to fuckin' kill me!"

"No, we didn't, Kali, don't be so paranoid. We were trying to sedate you. It generally doesn't work when we try, but this one was made just for you, and it still only had half the effect it was supposed to."

"Remind me to shove-- AGH!"

The scream tears its way up your throat and out of your mouth as the pain hits you.

"NOT AGAIN!" you shriek, punching the glass they've got you in. No good comes of it. Just an aching fist. "Please not again, I don't want it anymore!"

"The immunity she built up to it last time faded," you hear Koenma say.

"NO FUCK! GET THESE STUPID WIRES OUT OF ME!" you shriek, noticing the strange lumps under your skin and being unable to tear them out.

"Calm down, please. We'll be done in a little while."

You look around for something to hit them with, but nothing comes to mind. You search your pockets, but they've been emptied, and even the pony-tail duey you used to tie your hair back on your motorcycle has been removed.

"Please no more," you sigh, rocking against the glass and staring away from the mirror intently.

"Just a minute. They didn't finish. We won't hurt you again, we were just confirming the effectiveness of it, and what it did to your energy."

"It boosts with the pain, and when enough pain is used, I freak out and go nuts and get this insane boost to protect myself with, like every other time when something hurts me enough. When surrounded by love, I get scared and my energy boosts more, and when the objects of my love are being hurt, it boosts, but it doesn't do as much as the pain to myself. My fear and pain is what triggers it. My pain is triggered by a soon-to-be-dead-prince-of-paperstamping, and my fear is triggered by damn near everything else!"

"That's just it. We want to see exactly what. It might help with your training, and it might help the people you train. You'll learn to recognize what helps you, and maybe what helps them. You're a walking psychology book, after all."

"You're lying. Tell me why I'm here, Koenma," you demand. "You were even lying when you said you aren't going to hurt me."

"Forgive me, Kali... It was a command, we have to research that... state... you enter when you're hurt..."

"You mean when I go berserk after someone tries to kill me?"

"Yes."

"I hate you," you spit. "I hate your guts to the ground and I hope you DIE SCREAMING!" you scream, turning back around and punching the glass. You hear Kuwabara scream as if he's frightened.

"You guys, I can see her energy more than before!"

"We all can."

"She's angry."

"She reacts more when the damage is done to her, I guess."

"I'm still going to kill you all!"

"Do you think we can get rid of her memory of this?"

"I doubt it," Koenma says quietly. "She seems to be pretty well immune to all of the chemical medications. There are probably only a limited few means to effect her chemically without killing her. One would have to go for her heart or lungs to affect her. Anything but her brain, really could kill her. Her brain seems able to take any punishment dealt to it, but nature can't have anything so strong as that, so her other organs, particularly her stomach and liver, judging by the effects of the poison, are weak and vulnerable to damage. She will probably be ill for a couple of days while she recovers from it."

"I'm going to kill you. Koenma... stab his face off," you mutter, etching foul words and very angry, violent threats into the glass with a finger-ful of energy. "Kurama... I dunno. Probably go trample his pretty flowers, since he's so easily swayed like a fuckin' sheep, and he was probably convinced to do this."

"Are these threats empty?"

"I think she'll calm down in the days she'll be ill," Koenma says comfortingly. "But they're not empty threats, that I can promise. She will certainly retaliate. Hopefully, she'll manage to get at one of you when you're expecting it, because I can promise that nothing is going to keep her from hurting you as long as she's not forgiven or forgotten. Lucky for you, she tends to do both of those. A lot of the time, anyway. She probably won't forgive this for a very long time. This is a very serious betrayal."

"Actually, Kuwabara's safe. He's too slow to have taken part in this. Yusuke might have had something to do with it, but nothing that I've seen yet. So Yusuke might be. Ender, however, is dead. Mother may not be able to leave her room because I'm going to trap her in it for a few days. Koenma... I'm going to stab your fuckin' face off. Kurama's going to have his flowers stomped on, and Hiei obviously knew about it, but I don't know what I'm going to do to him," you state matter-of-factly.

You hear Kuwabara make a funny noise. "Hiei didn't help plan it. He found out about what was happening and decided to come. He looks pretty pissed off, too--- WAAGH! HELP!"

"You brought it on yourself, Kuwabara," Yusuke says. You hear a loud crashing noise, and Hiei falls through the glass, landing not-so-neatly on his back. You guess Kuwabara hit him with the sword, and, while it wasn't enough to cut him, it was enough to force him back.

You stare at him a second. He's just staring at you. And he looks as ill as Kurama does, and angry, and hurt, and sorry. He must not have had anything to do with it.

You lunge at him through the glass, and he steps back, examining you, fairly worried, but he jumps up to the others and hits Kuwabara in the stomach. He falls down, close to you. You lunge at him. He screams like a girl and runs away, trying to scramble up the wall wildly like a frightened cat. You sway dramatically and giggle. "Scared of me when I'm helpless. You're a sad specimen of existance," you say as Yusuke pulls him up.

"It's still moving. It went down slightly when she saw how scared they were of her."

You narrow your eyes. "You talk like I'm not here. At least talk to me. Make this seem a little less objective, and stop making me seem like I'm a cat that you're tormenting, Koenma."

"Very well. Do you think you could figure out something that would make you frightened?"

"Lots of things."

"Hm."

A bit of a pause, and an image swirls into your mind. You punch the glass, shouting "NO!" before you completely lose what's real to the images you're being fed.

You try to move, but your energy isn't anything like it was. You can't move too well at all. You're weak. All your former strength is gone. You can't even smell anything any better than normal. You're human. And you're staring one of your most frightening opponents in the face.

The monstrocity of a demon is in front of you. You start to run, but then you see the others on your team are being held by him. You look up at him, then at the others.

"There's no way. This is impossible. I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming! I've NEVER been this weak!!"

"You don't know that, now, do you?" the pointy-toothed set of mouths says, hissing and putting his very empty night of a face near yours. You punch him, but all that does is hurt your hand.

He bites your neck with one of the mouths in his nightmare of a body. "Your choice, now. You or them?"

You cringe. "What're you going to do?"

"Tear your bodies apart, tiny bit by tiny bit, and devour the soul until you're nothing but another star on me," he says, gesturing at his mouth-covered body with one extention that manages to turn itself into a hand.

"Azazel... Please... Let them, and me, go..."

"Try to think about it objectively. You're better than all four of them. More of a value to Spirit World."

"Individually. They, as a team, can beat me. I've just never fought them all at once. So it would be better if you killed me. Besides... in my current state..."

He lets go of your neck, and seizes your arm in a different mouth, holding you up. One of the other mouths seizes your other arm. You're afraid. Your energy doesn't grow, like normal. You kick madly, but have no effect. You sigh and settle silently. The others flee, but not far enough to be out of sight.

Reality fades back into veiw. You realize you've slumped to the floor, and your energy comes back with a painful rush.

"Ouch. Ouch. Ouch."

"You take to dream-reality very easily," Kurama says.

"It's kinda scary. When you dream about not having any energy, you don't have any. It went away like ice in a fire." Yusuke adds.

"Ice doesn't go away in a fire. It changes form. Koenma, where'd it go?"

"It went away, he wasn't kidding. It went completely away."

"So... if someone managed to trick me into doubting my own energy... I wouldn't have it?"

"I don't doubt it. In fact, you may not even truly have the kind or the amount you think you have."

"But it was like this the whole time. Not because I thought I was stronger. Maybe it is as high as it can go, but it can get lower. I don't know where it goes, though. Can I- OUCH! That hurts, you son of a bitch, and if you do it again, I'm stickin' one of these lump-fuckers in your EYE and sitting on the what-the-fuck-ever-the-trigger-is!"

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to hit that button."

"Yes, you did, the goal here is to make me freak out!"

"Whether or not that's true will stay with me, for fear of your revenge. We're going to be moving, now, we have to get to a safer observation room."

You see Koenma get up and leave, and you wait calmly, crossing your arms and sitting slumped in the tube-thing.

You see that everyone but Koenma and Kuwabara stayed in the room they were already in.

A scream wrenches itself out of your throat, and you fall to your knees, trying your damnedest to focus, but nothing about what you're suffering through lets you. It gets worse, a little by little, and you smell something strange in the air.

Then that familiar numbness starts to creep up on you. You watch yourself, this time, to see what you do, but it's hard. You don't think about your actions, they just sort of happen.

You get to your feet and look around you, trying to find Koenma, you guess, and then you give up and just start breaking everything you can. The first thing you do is put your arm through the glass, and the next thing you do is brush the glass off you. You might be bleeding, but it's hard to tell.

Then you can't watch yourself anymore. Your vision goes blurry, and the only thing you sense at all is the occassional ache or pain or something. You don't know how long it takes, but, after a while, you drop to the floor in the room you started out in and curl up on your side. A pain in your stomach feels like its trying to kill you.

"I'll... Ugh..." you start to say before the pain kicks in and you curl up tighter. "Ow... Guys... I'm sick..."

"I think the side effect of the drugs are kicking in. We can continue the research, if you don't mind. It will help us to know what it does when you're prone afterwards..."

"I'm going to kill you," you say for what has to be the eight thousandth time.

"Please calm down."

"I'm going to kill you. I'm going to fucking kill you. Let me out of this fucking lab before I do it again and kill you dead, Koenma, I'm borderline insane, here, you know how I get. Get me out, Koenma, right fucking now..."

"Please calm down, Kali."

You feel worse, and then you try to get lower to the floor. When you try to move, you can move, but it takes an odd amount of effort, except for your mouth, and it's comforting to keep threatening Koenma. "I mean it, you little pacifier-sucking fucktard, I'm going to kill you if you don't let me out of here within ten more seconds, and I can hear Kurama's watch from in here, I'm not deaf anymore, I know how long you've got..." You start to drag yourself to your feet. Very little strength, and a large amount of effort, it's taking. You shudder involuntarily and curl onto your side, closing your eyes, waiting for the sudden chill to fade. Five. Six. Seven.

"Is she okay?"

"I don't know."

"Let's get her out of there."

Nothing happens, yet.

His time is up. But as you get up, you slowly start having to breathe harder and harder, like you can't get your lungs to work right, and you suddenly begin to hyperventilate. A pair of feet steps up to you. You recognize the boots.

"Hiei," you manage to murmur. "I wanna go home. Get them to take me home."

No sounds come from Hiei, but you feel him sit down on the floor. You feel three sets of hands moving over you, taking things out from under your skin. Someone's knee is near your head, and you, desperate for comfort, put your head on it and leave it there, trying to shut out the pain of having things taken out from under your skin. You feel something petting your head, until someone else picks you up. You sniff lightly. Hiei's the one that's picked you up. Curious. You expected Ender or Kuwabara. But it's good that it's Hiei, you feel safer with him.

"Ouch," you say quietly. Koenma smiles and pats your shoulder, now in teenaged form.

"You're alright. You'll just need to take a couple of days to heal. And forgive us."

You grab Koenma's shirt collar and drag him towards you. Hiei drops you in surprise, but you roll and manage to land on your feet and tackle him to the ground.

"What'd I say I was gonna do to you!?"

"Stab my face off," Koenma says quietly. You smile.

"Oh, yeah. Hold still, I'd hate to miss," you giggle, using your energy to create a knife. You bring it up and almost stab him with it, but Yusuke and Hiei and Kurama all three grab you to drag you off him.

"LEMME GO! I ALMOST HAD HIM!" you whine.

"Come on, Kali, you need to go home and rest," Yusuke says quietly.

"Hn," Hiei agrees. You fall back and collapse against them and close your eyes again. The knife fades out of existance, and Hiei picks you back up.

"Koenma... don't think I've forgiven you..."

"Oh, I know. I owe you big for this one," he says quietly.

"You know... you might wanna take the knife outta my back... I think you'll need it again sometime." You whine a little and close your eyes and go to sleep again


	27. Boys' Points of View

_Boys' Points of View _

**Kurama  
**She sits at the table uneasily, looking nervous and almost frightened, or at least on guard. She suspects, she knows. She knows what's in her cup, this is why she hasn't tried any yet.

The paranoia is a strange thing for you to suffer, but you're so uneasy as it is, and this is wrong to do to someone that hasn't harmed you. You know it's for Koenma, and for learnings' sake, and your own, should she decide to go renegade, but this is not right.

"You haven't drunk any of your tea."

"Not thirsty," she answers too plainly.

"I've not poisoned it, Kali. You saw me pour it, and I drank from my own cup." Oh, what a lie, she knows, she knows... Damn...

"There's more than one way to slip poison into a cup. And I don't think you'd poison me. You were such a help to me when I was blind."

So she doesn't know. All the worse, she doesn't expect it. What a terrible betrayal. "A very fair point," you say quietly, feeling terrible.

She drinks some, then goes into the kitchen. You hear her collapse, so you go into the kitchen. She threatened to kill you as soon as she hit the floor. It makes you nervous to go in there, but you do anyway. Better you find her in such a bad mood, rather than your mother find her out cold. Her cup is in the sink, very very clean. She must have known. She cleaned it, the powder was cold... And she kept cleaning it. Spotless. It makes you feel absolutely terrible. She took the extra precaution to avoid letting you or your mother drink from that cup with anything left in it.

You fall to the ground, having a leg jerked out from under you, and the second one knocked by the first one. She grabs your collar and pulls you to her face. You can see the fear and anger in her face and eyes. The guilt chews a little hole in your belly.

She moves a whole lot, but with very little control. You hear her talk, but unclearly. You pick yourself up, then pick her up and put her arm over your shoulders and help her very quietly up to your room.

Under suggestion of Koenma, you give her a shot of it, then realize that she's still awake and conscious. She struggles to make her eyes focus, and stay open, and she tries to move, but does badly. Koenma, when he hears this, tells you to take her outside.

You pick her up and take her outside and wait for her brother to come.

She laughs when Ender gets there. The brief conversation you were having with her was interrupted. You're very worried, suddenly.

Hiei surprises you when you see him, and even moreso when he tells you what she's laughing at. He wasn't supposed to know about this at all. He would never approve of doing this. This can only be defined as betrayal, and malignant and painful for one party that has done nothing that could even remotely count against her, unjustifiable to anyone with his values.

She was laughing because you're scared of her wrath. She thinks it's funny that you're scared of her when she is at her weakest, physically speaking. But she is still conscious. This is not a good thing. She can invert you, slam your bloody outer guts into the wall, if she wanted to. And she hasn't, yet, even though you can't say you'd blame her if she did. The fact that you're still alive is a miracle at her hands, because she has chosen to be kind to you when you least deserve it and let you live.

* * *

**Hiei**

You walk into Koenma's office, and see Kurama's face on the screen. You scowl. "She is prone, right now. Not as prone as I would like," is all you have to hear before you feel a rage build in your throat.

"What are you doing?" you demand of Koenma. It's not so much you care about her as much as it is that this is very wrong to be doing to a person, especially one that has done no damage to you. For that matter, she invited you into her house, fed you, offered her trust and friendship as easily as she had, and protected you, even though she probably had more reasons to hate you and the other three than to even let you kiss her shoe. This is wrong.

"We are going to study her a bit more. The job has been handed to me by my higher-ups," Koenma says matter-of-factly. He's lying. He's doing it for himself and his curiousity, just as he had asked that woman to.

At this, you are even angrier at what they're doing. She has this much power, she can kill all of you, and they're testing her. Were you in her shoes, you would kill every one involved as soon as possible.

You don't say anything, but you would love nothing more than to run Koenma through right now.

"Why?"

"We are trying to learn her weaknesses and strengths. She is very special, Hiei, and we would like to learn as much as we can."

"So you will betray her trust, loyalty, and friendship for the sake of your curiousity?" you demand. "That is very dangerous, Koenma. Were I in her place, I would kill all of you."

Koenma finally takes his face away from the paperwork and puts his eyes on you. He looks very serious.

"She will forgive, eventually. She is not one to hold too much of a grudge. We won't harm her. The worst that will happen will be the side-effects of the poison we've used to remove her defenses."

You want to run him through a little more than before, but you don't. Instead, you go out the door and start running for her house to make sure that they don't hurt her any more than they already have.

* * *

**Yusuke**

You don't think you should go through with this, either. You're waiting outside Koenma's office with your arms and legs crossed, juggling the toothpick in your mouth. Hiei's already gone in and come out, obviously angry both times. He must feel bad for hurting her, too. He wasn't supposed to find out, but he's a smart guy. Kurama told you why he wasn't supposed to hear about it- you're kinda hoping that Koenma's dead in there.

Koenma comes out of his office eventually and leads you outside. Kuwabara's holding Kali like a small child to his chest, and you duck your head and turn your back. Kuwabara looks like he feels bad, too.

"How the hell can you do this to her?" you finally demand of Koenma, glaring at him.

"It won't hurt her," the teenaged form of Koenma says from behind you. "We wo--"

"'We' my ass," you growl.

"Fine. _I_ won't hurt her. I'm just checking up on some things."

"Not a good sign that you had to drug her."

"Just a precaution, Yusuke," Koenma chastises quietly.

You look back at them.The other three look as bad as you feel. You wonder how any of them haven't just punched out Kuwabara and taken her back to her house. She looks scared and small and helpless, and even though she's so much more mature and that much stronger than you, she looks like a little girl, hanging in Kuwabara's arms like that. And instead of feeling all "Awwww," you feel all "Let's go kill Koenma."

She stirs a little bit and shifts herself. Kuwabara handles her carefully and doesn't drop her, but then she puts her face into his neck and starts clinging to him. And she makes a terrified sound in the process. You glare at Koenma, and he takes three steps away from you.

* * *

**Kuwabara**

Koenma needed your help with Kali, though you don't know why. Then you see Kali sleeping, spread out over three laps and you realize what's going on. A little. You need to help move her. And Koenma said something about study.

You pick her up. She's a lot heavier than what you expected, but then you notice that she's really cold.

"Is she dead?" you ask the other guys.

"She's breathing, right?" Ender asks.

"Yeah, it's tickling my ear," you say. It really is, too, with her chin on your shoulder.

"Then she's alive."

"Why's she so cold?"

"S'one of her demon things, we guess," Ender says as he gets out of the car. Hiei crosses his arms and stalks ahead angrily. You watch him leave.

"What's his problem?" you ask Kurama, who is also climbing out of the car.

"He's mad we're doing this to Kali," he answers. His voice sounds really quiet. Like he feels bad.

"Why?"

"Because he thinks that it is unloyal and hating to do this to someone without her having hurt, or even really trying to hurt, any of us. She's been nothing but nice, and we're betraying all trust she's extended in our directions. This is truly a terrible thing we're doing, Kuwabara." And then he looks up at you. He puts his hand on your arm, too, but what you noticed what his eyes, and you've got a really sunk feeling in your belly.

"Yeah. It is. But why would Hiei care?" you continue.

You don't get an answer, you keep walking. Kali makes a quiet whining noise in her throat, and even cries out and puts her face to your neck weakly. You suddenly feel bad, too. You carry her slower than before and get a better hold on her.

You try to put her on the circle of floor that Koenma has marked off. She's holding onto you too tightly, and you can't manage to get her off, but none of the others help you. You just have to lean to the floor and put her on it and move her arms so that she has to release you, and she lays in the floor, stretched out. She looks even more pitiful than she already did. You look up at Ender and punch him gently. He looks guilty, too. They lead you to some stairs to a room labeled "observation room" at the top.

* * *

**Kurama**

You watch Ender help inject little electrodes or nanotechs or something into her arms and legs and neck, right under the skin, already laid over with bandages, that way she can't start scratching herself again, like she did last time, as is evident by the lines of bleeding wounds you found when you were watching the hospital wrap her up.

There's an IV drip over her, as well, in order to make sure she wakes up soon, hoping to dilute the drugs in her system for long enough to examine her.

She looks so calm when she's sleeping, you discover. Very open, very sweet, very innocent. And scared. She looks scared. Does she know? You and the others retreat to a small observation room and wait for her to wake up.

"Fuckers," she suddenly says as her head twitches upright and she looks around like a newborn child. And then she spots you. She's not supposed to see you, but she can, somehow, you can tell.

At first she's calm, then, while she is distracted, Koenma presses a small yellow button on the panel in front of him, and she shrieks with pain and her whole body jerks reflexively and slams right into the glass wall next to her, before she realizes what she's doing. The reaction after that was much more intense than what was originally showing. She is very good at being enraged, you notice. This is the side of her that put Yusuke's teacher in the hospital. She's screaming bloody murder, threatening to kill you all, and her face is threatening to weep. She looks frighteningly beautiful, like this.

Then she calms down and starts searching through her pockets and even runs her hand through her hair, and then falls back against the wall of the glass, sighing slightly and pleading. You feel Yusuke's and Hiei's disease, and Kuwabara's pity. Even you want to leave, but you couldn't do that to her. You won't leave Koenma's objectiveness with her.

Her rage returns, for some reason, and she looks around her and makes a pained sound in her throat, and she looks like a trapped animal for a minute, then she slams her fist on the ground. "I hate your guts to the ground and I hope you DIE SCREAMING!" she shrieks. A small screen on the panel in front of Koenma starts to make a noise, and an already-tall bar goes up, almost in sinc with a second one on the end of the screen. Energy amount and energy concentration. When you look back out at her, you can see a very strangely colored starburst around her beginning to form and glow.

Kuwabara gets scared, and you try to brush it off. Hiei knows what's going on, too, and he doesn't seem happy. Yusuke doesn't talk at all, until he finally asks, "Is there any way to get rid of her memory of this?"

She starts making her death threats, etching them on the side of the glass wall with her fingers. Your plants are dead meat, and an imminent death awaits Koenma, her brother, and her mother. She is very wise to figure out that you four were the only ones involved. You are sure that she means it, and ask about your safety.

"I think she'll calm down in the days she'll be ill," Koenma says comfortingly. "But they're not empty threats, that I promise. She will certainly retaliate. Hopefully, she'll manage to get at one of you when you're expecting it, because I can promise that nothing is going to keep her from hurting you as long as she's not forgiven or forgotten. Lucky for you, she tends to do both of those. A lot of the time, anyway. She probably won't forgive this for a very long time. This is a very serious betrayal."

Somehow, you don't feel much better. Or safer.

Kuwabara hears what she says about Hiei, and he starts to clear things up for her, but Hiei gets angry at him, probably for feeding her the hallucination that he might care for her. But then Hiei attempts to go hit him, Kuwabara gets scared and swings his Spirit sword wildly and knocks Hiei through the glass.

Kali seems surprised, and almost scared to see Hiei fall through the glass. Then she looks hurt. Only for a second, but she does. Hiei, to your surprise, does too. He stands still and stares at her, just as she stares at him. Then she lunges in place. Hiei doesn't duck or dodge or anything, but he tenses up, then jumps through the window, then knocks Kuwabara back through the window. She jumps at Kuwabara, but Kuwabara gives her more results than Hiei. He starts trying to jump up the wall and scratches at it like a scared kitten, until Yusuke leans down to help him up. Honestly, you think she should have all rights to beat all of you into the ground, but you can't let her do that.

* * *

**Hiei**

You fall through the glass and get upright quickly. She sees you, and you see her, and you can't help but stare for a second. She looks so weak right now, and so much smaller than normal. Young and helpless. A girl rather than a powerful fighter. Human in appearance, completely trapped, about as threatening as a sleeping baby. Your guts feel a hook connect to them and start to rip all your innards to shreds. The pain in her face makes it obvious she is hurt by the fact that you'd all do this to her, and her eyes are preparing to bleed tears. She lunges at you, to see what you'd do. You feel a tension travel through you, so you jump back through the broken window, and hit Kuwabara through it, hoping he will suffer the same guilt that's hitting you.

His fear is satisfying. Guilt is beyond idiocy.

Koenma asks her what would scare her. She doesn't answer, but then she looks terrified and screams her objection, then punches the glass again with her bleeding knuckles, then starts to sink to the floor.

You tap into her mind and watch what she sees.

The creature has her in its grip, her neck in its teeth. The four of you are pinned. She's human, weak, and very scared, but very calm. She reasons your way out of it, but you know she's scared and wants a way out with you, too.

You're surprised. She would sacrifice herself for the four of you? Even when she was so much weaker, and it would hurt so much worse?

The others talk about how surprised they are at the fact that she was totally weak when her hallucination self was so weak. Logically, they did not see what she saw, they heard a suggestion of the effects from Koenma. They don't realize that she, in that all-too-real-dream-state, offered her life for yours and theirs, even though what could only be unimaginable pain would be the result.

* * *

**Kurama**

"Can I- OUCH! That hurts, you son of a bitch, and if you do it again, I'm stickin' one of these lump-fuckers in your EYE and sitting on the what-the-fuck-ever-the-trigger-is!" she screams.

"I'm sorry," he says. "I didn't mean to hit that button."

"Yes, you did, the goal here is to make me freak out!"

"Whether or not that's true will stay with me, for fear of your revenge. We're going to be moving, now, we have to get to a safer observation room."

Koenma picks up a stack of papers and moves out of the room. "You're all very welcome to stay, but I wouldn't advise that you do so. When she loses control of herself, she is violent, and she really truly doesn't care. I can't promise safety, here."

Kuwabara follows him out of the room. You, Hiei, and Yusuke all silently agree to stay where you are, without so much as looking at each other to agree.

"Can anyone save her?" Yusuke asks.

"No. She can't save herself, no one else can," Hiei says softly.

You want to turn away when she starts screaming. Her face is turning an unattractive purple-ish color, and her eyes are screwed shut, and her mouth is open in a shriek of pain. She's fallen to her knees and she's got her fist pressed to the glass wall. You look at the screen that Koenma was looking at, earlier, and you notice that the bar is slowly but surely climbing, until the screaming suddenly fades to silence, and the bar shoots up. You look down at her and see that she's standing upright, but she still looks like she's in pain. She punches the wall of glass, and the whole thing shatters and showers her. She closes her eyes and shakes her head a little bit, and you can see that she's lost control of herself, because she's rocking back and forth and looking around, and then she loses it entirely. She screams again, just a brief, angry scream, and the first thing you notice is that everything around her gets thrown back, and the walls suddenly have huge indentions appear.

She, after destroying the whole lab, jumps up to you guys. You have to step back from her before her aura spears you.

"Where. Is. He."

"We don't know, Kali... We're sorry..." Yusuke whispers. She nods slowly, and looks at you. You don't even see her move. All you know is that the next time you can see anything, you're pressed to the wall, she's got your collar in her fist, and her other hand is being held back by Yusuke and Hiei at once, though they seem to be having problems with holding her, and you know that, had part of her not wanted them to, they wouldn't be there.

She throws them back and throws you hard against the opposite wall, and she starts on more of a rampage, destroying this room, too. You and Hiei wind up in one corner, watching and hoping that she doesn't turn her attention back on you.

"We can't fight her."

"You think I don't know that."

"What should we do, then?"

"Well, there's running."

"Running? I'll sooner die at her hands."

"I think that may be the other option," you mumble as she starts throwing things. Hiei cuts the chair in half. She ignores you again and goes out into the hall. You hear her running for a while, but then you hear Koenma scream, and a trap door opens and she falls and lands on her feet in the room she'd started out in. She yelps in pain and clutches at her stomach, and she sinks to the floor with a groan.

"Ow... guys... I'm sick..."

"We can continue the research, if you don't mind," Koenma offers.

She starts to chant under her breath as she lowers herself onto her side. "I'm going to kill you. I'm going to kill you."

* * *

**Hiei**

It travels back and forth, her threats and Koenma's gentle calming that isn't working, until she finally scares him by warning him that if something else happens to her, she'll go insane and she might very well kill him. This frightens him enough to hesitate, and then she drops to the floor and doesn't move.

It's amusing. After a few seconds on the floor, she gets angrier. The bar on the screen shoots up, and she threatens him again. "I mean it, you little pacifier-sucking fucktard, I'm going to kill you if you don't let me out of here within ten more seconds, and I can hear Kurama's watch from in here, I'm not deaf anymore, I know how long you've got..."

After that, she convulses slightly, and curls up tighter, turning her back to you, and a slight moan is heard.

"Is she okay?" Yusuke asks.

"I don't know," Koenma whispers.

"Let's get her out of here," Kurama says calmly, but his voice still sounds forced.

You drop to the floor and circle to see her face, and realize that she is in pain and she isn't breathing too well. Seeing her condition ends all amusement at what a monster she can become, and you feel a sudden wave of an unfamiliar emotion, leaving you feeling hollow and empty and drained. Guilt, you think.

"Hiei," she whispers. "Hiei, I wanna go home. Get them to take me home."

_She's alright, she'll be fine,_ you tell yourself as the others approach. You go down on one knee near her head, and, after a second, shift so that your leg is laying on the floor and you're sitting over her, glaring hard at Koenma. You don't know why, but you _really_ want to kill Koenma more than ever, and at the same time, you want to comfort her, but you don't know how, so you settle where you sit and wait. She doesn't move, even as Kurama, Ender, and Yusuke help remove the sensors from her skin. She puts her head on your knee, startling you, but you don't move away. Her mother moves next to you and starts to run her hand through her daughter's hair. You pull her up into your arms as they finish their work, stand up, and cradle her carefully. She opens her eyes and her arm shoots out and she gets a hold on Koenma's collar, and proceeds to drag him toward her, or the two of you toward him. You lose your grip, so you help her twist and she lands clumsily on her feet, then thrusts her weight forward, knocking him backwards.

"What did I say I'd do to you?" she slurs, obviously having problems keeping her head up.

"Stab my face off," Koenma answers slowly.

"Oh, yeah. Hold still," she says. You realize she's serious when a knife forms itself in her hand, and she picks it up over her head. You lunge for the arm that's got his collar in its hand, pry her hand away and pull her back. Kurama and Yusuke help you. She fights weakly and wildly.

"LEMME GO! I ALMOST HAD HIM!"

Yusuke, who has a hold on her waist, starts talking quietly in her ear. "Come on, Kali, you need to go home and rest. He's not worth your life."

"Hn," you second. You're about to pick her back up, but suddenly, she goes limp and leans against the three of you. You pick her back up after Kurama and Yusuke shift slightly to allow it.

"Koenma," she manages to sputter, "don't think I've forgiven you."

"Oh, I know," Koenma says. He seems to regret his decision, but you're not sure if it's guilt-induced, or if it's fear-induced. "I owe you big for this."

"Yeah... You might wanna get this knife... out of my back... I'm sure you'll need it again..."

She nods a little, makes a very small, wounded noise, and passes back out in your arms. You glare at Koenma, and Yusuke's helping you do so. The fox is walking slowly behind all of you with his head down, and with the flesh of his thumb in his teeth, and he's dragging his feet uncharacteristically. Kuwabara looks wounded, too, walking with his head down. You can swear you can smell the blood he's drawing from biting his lip. Koenma looks the least guilty.

As you walk, you swear you hear Yusuke's temper snap. You're thankful for it, because you've wanted to do what he's about to do the whole time she's rested in your arms, but you couldn't.

Yusuke grabs Koenma's collar and pounds him into the wall, clenching a fist near his face.

"That was so fucking shitty, Binky-Breath! What the fuck did you do that for?! She trusted us! Hell, she _liked_ us! She defended us with her life and depended on us for no fucking reason other than she felt she could! And now, I wouldn't blame her if she killed us all in our sleep! I think she _should_ kill us all in our sleep, especially you! And I _ain't _the only one that thinks it, either! Kurama looks like he's about to fucking cry, and even _Hiei's_ pissed off!"

"I'm sorry, Yusuke, but it was necessary!"

"No, it wasn't," Kurama says. "We didn't do anything helpful. We just confirmed a few suspicions. We could have asked her for the answer to those questions ourselves, and caused much less distrust, and pain."

"We couldn't, she wouldn't answer half of those questions, and you have no idea what I was doing! She's fine! Yusuke, let go of me!"

Yusuke doesn't let go, to your pleasure. You adjust the sleeping girl in your arms. She snuggles her head into your neck in her sleep, and she hugs your neck and chest, holding her arms around you. You blush a little, but the attention is on Koenma, so the others don't notice.

"Let's do what he did to her," Kuwabara suggests heatedly. "He deserves it."

"Yeah, he does," Yusuke answers, starting to drag him back. Koenma kicks and screams.

"No, Yusuke, please, please, don't!"

"You did it to her without even a single qualm." Kurama supplies without his usual calm voice. He's angry, and he's showing it, whether or not he means to. Yusuke keeps dragging him back. Koenma breaks free, but Kuwabara grabs his arm and holds him still.

"He's right. Even the fox is angry at you," you say.

"It isn't right. She has worked loyally for you for so long. She has had no thought to betray you in the whole of the time she's worked for you, never even offering to find another employer, no matter what you've asked her to do," Kurama murmurs. He starts walking along the path to her room ((You're still in the mansion, but in a very secret part of it. The car ride was taking you to your house, because Botan refused to participate, too.))

"I was under command!"

"Yeah, and? Shouldn't your conscience carry over into your decision?" Yusuke demands.

You start walking again, holding her closer to you, feeling strangely protective over her. Kurama is walking next to you.

"I hope you feel bad for this for a very long time, Kitsune," you say heatedly.

"I do, too," Kurama answers simply, looking at her and looking like he's going to be sick. He reaches over to her and brushes some hair away from her mouth and nose before she breathes it in. You have to stop yourself from pulling her away. You recognize the odd behaviour, but you shut it out for the moment. Kurama winces more and backs away. "I am sorry, Hiei," he says softly, hardly audible over the cries between Kuwabara, Koenma, and Yusuke. You know why he's apologizing to you, and you can only pray that there's no reason for him to have done so.


	28. Side Effects

_Side Effects_

**Back to You**

The next morning, sleeping at the Reikai, you wake up and the first thought in your head is "Glurk". You roll out of your bed and catch yourself on legs that decide to only half support you, and you fall to the floor. Hiei, having heard you move from outside your window, ((You assume. That's how he got in, anyway.)) comes in and helps you upright.

"Sick," you explain, pointing to the door. He helps you get to the bathroom and, to your surprise, helps hold you up and holds your hair out of the way ((if necessary)) while you're sick. Afterwards, you feel a little better, but you'd kill for some gum. He helps you back to your room and sits you on the floor, and retreats to a corner and sits in it. You flop over onto your side and press your fingers into a cramp in the upper part of your abdomen, lower part of your chest.

Hiei leaves when Kurama comes in. He doesn't look at you, but he does show you the food he's made. The idea of eating makes you sick again, and you stand and try to stagger to the door. Hiei helps you again after you get out the door, and when you return, you see that Kurama has gone with the food.

Hours of this. Kurama will, occasionally come in with food, a little more mild than the last, until he finally resorts to nothing but crackers and chicken broth and sprite. You choke this down and hope that it will taste half as good on the way up.

* * *

At night fall, Hiei leaves and Yusuke comes in to take his place, but he's a lot less rough with you, doing this out of the kindness of his heart, rather than out of guilt. He helps you into your bed and sits on the side of it, and he pats your hand. "If you need anything, just ask me, okay?"

"Hnnngh..." you agree. He pats your hand again and tucks you in. You both sit in complete silence for a while, and, eventually, you realize that you're too hungry to sleep, and you reach up to touch Yusuke with one hand. He feels you touch him, looks at you, and a look of concern spreads out on his face. He touches lightly at your forehead, and he makes a face.

"Jeez, why didn't you say you were burning up like that? I'm going to go get Kurama or someone, okay? Just call if you need anything, I'll see if I can get back quick enough."

You lay in wait for a little while, and Kurama comes in, focusing hard on the floor as he walks up to you, and he puts his palm to your forehead, then quickly pulls it away.

"I'll go get her an ice pack," the red-head decides as he leaves the room.

"You want me to take off one of these covers?" Yusuke asks.

From behind him, Botan makes her appearance by sticking her head in. "Would you like to change clothes?"

You nod at both of them, but as you try to get out of the bed, you stagger and fall into Yusuke, who helps you stand upright and lets you lean on Botan and, after he gets the thickest cover off your bed and puts down a lighter one, leaves.

"Why...?" you ask Botan.

"Koenma's higher-ups told him to, there was nothing we could do to refuse it..." Botan sighs. "He would like to see you later..."

"I m... mean... You're... bein'... nice..."

"Well, according to Kurama, Hiei feels guilty for not stopping Koenma, Kurama himself feels bad for helping them, and Yusuke doesn't feel bad, but he just wants to help you, 'cos he knows you'd do the same thing if it were him. "

You sigh and pull some boxers on, and grab an old jester costume from Halloween last year that your mom made, and drag it on, then curl back into the bed. Botan sighs when she gets to the door.

"Kali, sweetheart, are you going to be okay? Should we take you to the medical hall? Do you want me to heal you?"

"Chemical damage, not energy. I'm sick... 'cause o' the drug 'r poison," you mumble, getting tangled into your quilt. "Fan," you add, pointing at the switch next to the door. She flips it as she leaves, and Yusuke comes back in, carrying the ice pack puts it on your forehead and sits back down next to you. You sigh quietly as he starts to scratch your head. Ender must have told him you like head scratches. Meh, screw like. Loooooove. ((Oh, GOD, head scratches are the greatest things. Man... drugs and head scratches. My heaven.))

Hiei comes in at one point, and you think it's funny when he freezes and makes a confused face. You giggle harshly.

"Detective, just what the hell are you doing?" he demands, glaring.

"Ender taught me. She relaxes a lot when you give her a head scratch. C'mere, I found this one spot, you can _feel_ her relax."

Hiei crosses his arms and sits down in the corner.

"Koenma sent me to make sure she doesn't puke on herself when you go to sleep."

"Be careful and make sure she doesn't puke on you, either," he warns as your breath catches and you close your eyes.

"You really should try scratching her head, it's hilarious when she slumps like that," Yusuke says as he helps you sit up and leave the bed.

"What are you doing?" Hiei mumbles.

"She made that little sound in her throat, help me help her to the bathroom."

You stagger along by yourself while the others watch, until you slump into the wall, and they help you get to the bathroom, and you hurl again.

"Lemme alone, boys, I wanna take a bath," you finally sigh.

"Can you do it by yourself?" Yusuke asks, a little too hopefully. You slug him in the face with a fist of energy, though you can hardly stand to bother concentrating, and Hiei glares.

"Yes. Yes, I can, now OUT!" you demand, glaring at them harder and pushing them out of the room. You lock the door behind them, and you look at your reflection as you undress. You look dead. You look deeeeeaaaad. White as a sheet, sunken-in eyes, dark sags under the eyes. You start the water, not caring how hot or cold, and you undress and you climb in and rest for a little while. You feel better, after a while, then you drag yourself out and sit in the floor with a towel wrapped around you until you feel like getting dressed.

* * *

On your way out the door, Hiei helps you to your room, and Kurama brings more crackers and sprite, and you lay in the bed for a while and you close your eyes.

Just before you go to sleep, you swear you feel someone petting your hand gently, but you can't tell who, so you just curl onto your side and leave that hand where it is. They take their hand away for a while, then they put it back.

As you lay on your back, you think hard. This was wrong. Even if the boys are helping you recover, Koenma had no right to do that to you, trick you like that and hurt you like that for no reason beyond his own curiousity. Botan was lying. You can always tell when she's lying, she's a terrible liar.

You make the decision now that as soon as you can walk without help again, you're out of here.

As you wake up, you see Koenma's pained-looking face. You, feeling much better than you did yesterday because of the sudden boost of energy the rage has offered, grab his collar and sling him to the wall with a shriek of anger. He stands very still, but he doesn't look you in the eye. You start to punch him, but you're overcome with your illness, and you stagger back onto the bed, holding your head.

"Koenma... You mother fucking... I.. should... urrrgh..."

"I agree, Kali. You should. Yusuke and Kuwabara, and Hiei have helped you gain your revenge..." You look hard and see bandages on his arms where you can't see his sleeve, and there are bruises on his face. He also looks very solemn.

"Revenge is not what I want, what I want is to be able to trust you fuckers."

"You can trust us."

"You stabbed me in the back!" you shout. You punch him in the face with a wad of energy in his face. It already has a black eye, but it looks like he can still see through it, and you want to fix that.

"I'm sorry, Kali. We did it for your own good."

"No, we did it for YOUR own good, which, as it turns out, will only be necessary if you continue to do this to me! You hurt me!"

"Actually... Kali... I did it with the best of intentions aimed at you... Here..."

He holds out a small vial that looks like an insulin bottle. "These chemicals seem to help speed up the process without pain." He holds out a second vial in his other hand with a different-colored lid. "And these help speed up the process with pain."

"So you did that so I could make myself go berserk like that? But I need to control it, if I don't, bad shit happens."

"So I've noticed. We have more." He reaches into his pocket and draws out two more. "This helps numb your pain, and, in effect, will slow down that process, but this one is for us to hang onto."

The bottle he's mentioning now is a small black bottle with a red lid.

"This is what we can use to stop you when you go berserk."

"What'll it do?"

"You remember the effect of the poison Kurama slipped you?"

"How could I not? I'm still puking."

"Well... it's just like that... only it's made to be injected, so we don't worry about the effects on your stomach..."

You blink slowly and sigh. You get the feeling you're being used. You don't appreciate it much, either. You're nothing but a weapon, you don't even play as much of a role as Yusuke does, because you have yet to lose, or even chance losing. You win. Always.

"Koenma. Destroy those."

"What?"

"You heard me. I am not a weapon. I'm a person. Demon, human, prophecied mother of the gods of all worlds, I don't really care how you define 'person', but I am not a weapon."

He looks at you out of the corner of his eyes. You glare hard at him, then snatch the bottles out of his hand and throw them against the wall, and they smash and the liquid dribbles down the wall.

"You can keep that. Keep a dart gun handy," you growl. "You got any more of that shit?"

"No... You don't have to use them if you don't want to."

"No way you could make me, anyway," you growl, grabbing him by his hair and throwing him out the window, over your balcony.

"Kali, that was unnecessary," Kurama informs you.

"You wanna see unnecessary, you should talk to... urgh..." You run to the balcony and throw up over the side. You don't even look to see if you hit Koenma, but you go back to your bed and sit down next to Hiei. Kurama's in the doorway with his head hanging down, and Yusuke's against the wall next to the bed.

"Sleep."

"No, I've already been out a while."

"How can you tell?" Yusuke inquires, cocking his head to a side.

"I'm not nearly as sick as the last time I was conscious. And there's that smell of puke of course... Would be a stain in the floor, I'm sure, but my room doesn't stain." Kurama nods slowly.

Hiei stands up, and you settle back into the bed. "Thank you guys so much... you have no idea... Thanks. All of you. 'cept you, Kurama. Asshole."

Kurama turns as he goes out of the door, and you hear Kurama and Koenma talking quietly in the hall. Hiei listens, too.

"I'm sorry, Kurama..."

"Don't be sorry, it was my choice."

"I know, but it was wrong of me to do this..."

"You could have asked her permission... Are you going to destroy the other vials?"

At this point, Kuwabara screams something profane as a snake wraps around his ankle. You catch her as she flies through the air. You push each of them out of your room and curl into the sheets. You feel two people walk in, but you mock sleeping and wait for them to leave. But they don't. One sits by the window, the other sits in the window's vicinity. You roll and crack your eye. You see red and black, Kurama and Hiei. Probably sharing a telepathic conversation.

You hear a soft noise from one of them, Kurama, from what you can tell, and one shifts. You wish that you had telepathy so you could tap into their minds and see what they were talking about, but you don't say anything for a while. You just wait.

Then you hear Kurama say something out loud, very very quietly.

"Oh dear."


	29. Childish Act of Stupidity

_Childish Act of Stupidity_

"Not that I'm going to stop you, but why are you leaving?" Hiei yawns from your doorway as you viciously throw around the stuff in your junk drawer until you find what you're looking for and shove it in your pocket. So far, you've got money, a pendant that you intend to string up later, and a few weapons with you. You've also pulled on a cloak you were given a long time ago, and you're dressed very much like a demon with your head and face hidden under the hood.

"I suppose that you did spend time in the underworld of the Ningenkai and the Makai..." Hiei mumbles aloud. His action surprises you so much that you turn to look at him.

"Since when you you speak aloud without necessity?"

"Since I started wanting answers."

"Ah. Well, yes, I did."

"When could you have managed that, in the three years before Koenma dragged you to work for him?" he snorts.

"I see that Koenma has let you know my history. Did he tell you more about me after he did that shit to me?"

"Yes."

"Ah. Yeah. Understandable, you're supposed to be keeping him safe, and the fewer ignorances the better."

"I won't be keeping him safe, I don't like him," Hiei answers with an annoyed tone.

"Understandable." After a minute, you realize that he still hasn't gone.

"Why are you still here?"

"I'm going to follow you."

"Really. Why is that?"

"I could never pass up the chance to see you practice at various crimes," he responds roughly.

"Just like you," you tease. "Apparently, we do have something in common."

"I'm sure you will succeed in finding people to help you," he mentions. "I am half sure that I want to ask you to join me now so that you're on my side."

"Aw, that's so sweet, Hiei. Are you more scared of me or just that respectful?"

"Hn," he answers. You dig under your bed for a portal key and hold it out at him.

"Your choice, Makai or Ningenkai."

"Hn," he answers, but he opens a portal for the Makai.

* * *

"Where are we?" you ask as you approach a city. It's extremely big. And man-made. It looks almost like New York or Tokyo, you realize as you look carefully. And you're sure there's just as much corrupt business there as here. And you look at Hiei. 

"Our goals?"

"Get a job and get paid for it. I prefer thievery. I suggest you offer your services as an assassin."

"Sounds good. How do I advertise."

"Bar. Wait for someone to whine. Offer your services, give them a price."

"... Hang on." You pause and grin morbidly. "I'm the infamous Kiraa... Hahaha... I forgot, this'll be interesting."

"If you can handle the murder attempts, be my guest, spread your name," Hiei says with a shrug.

"I don't think I'll need a job for a while, we're pretty powerful, we can do what we want, right?"

"Hn."

"I'm assuming that's a sign that you're agreeing."

"As long as we stay out of the way of anyone stronger."

"Hah! Stronger than me, you've gotta be kidding!"

"You haven't shown much power. You can't be much more powerful than anyone else on the team."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, Hiei, but I can destroy the whole of all existing worlds as I am."

"When Koenma was testing you, your moniter's bars stayed pretty low."

"You never looked at how high those numbers were."

"The concentration would go up with it, and you never even broke the glass."

"I couldn't even crack it when I punched it. How thick do you think it was? Plus, I wasn't trying, the concentrated energy left my body to keep me from warping myself any worse. Too much energy in me can fuck up my body," you say, holding up your wrapped up arm. The wrappings on it are tight-set.

"What happened?"

"The first time I was 'tested', they told me to put as much energy as I could into my arm so they could accurately measure it."

Hiei doesn't say anything. You jump to the roof of a low building, then to a higher one, then a higher one, and you sit calmly where you land. Hiei eventually catches up. You look over everything, and you shudder.

"What's wrong with you?" Hiei demands condescendingly.

"I'm angry."

"Why?"

"You idiots betrayed me."

"I did nothing," he argues. You hear his fist tighten.

"Exactly!" you cry angrily, glaring at him and turning on him so quickly you almost give yourself whiplash.

"What did you expect me to do?"

"Anyone could have stopped Koenma. It's not like he's a fighter."

"We did not want to go to prison."

You just glare out ahead of you. "I wish I'd found him."

"Almost as much as I do," he responds. "Where are you going to stay?"

"Hell, I dunno. I'm fine with living outside. Why did you follow me?"

"Hn."

"Yeah, I thought that was it."

You giggle and leap across the street to a higher building. "Race you!" you call. He jumps and meets up with you, and the pair of you run alongside each other until you get outside the city.

* * *

"So, do you know where we are?" you ask the fire demon in the tree over you.

"I don't see why it matters."

Hiei's eating something he nabbed while you were racing. You did the same thing, but you've finished it already.

"Agreed," you mumble, laying against a huge, over-ground root and half grounding yourself under it. You don't know why, but you're very tired. "I think I'm still mildly poisoned, forgive me, I'm going to go to sleep early. I work better at night anyway."

He drops a fruit on your head. You pop it into your mouth and spit the pit out into your hand, then jam it into the ground and lay there for a while, attempting to sleep. But sleep won't come. You almost catch it, but it runs away giggling like mad and flipping you off.

You lay for what feels like hours. While you try to sleep, you notice that Hiei leaves twice, but never stays gone long, and he never makes much noise inside what he probably thinks is your ear shot.

"Where are you going?" you ask the third time he drops from the tree.

"How long have you been awake? Long enough, right?"

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business."

"Fine, at least tell me where you've been?"

"Nowhere."

"You've gone twice."

"None of your damn business."

"Just don't get me killed," you request, curling deeper into your hole makeshift hole. "Don't bring anyone back, I'm a very wanted demoness."

He doesn't leave again. He climbs back into his tree and lays back on a branch. You don't move any more, and you struggle to silence all your thoughts until you finally manage to make yourself dream, if not sleep.


	30. Satisfied Existence Until Now

_Satisfied Existance. Until Now._

_Another day, another meal,_ you decide as you leap over yet another idiot security demon. You haven't had to fight anyone yet, but you're constantly on your guard anyway. You and Hiei travel a lot, actually. You stay up for hire as an assassin, but you always seem to enjoy stealing to eat and getting a lot of excitement every day, something you've missed since you left Spirit World. While the people at the Reikai are assholes, you still loved your job.

Missing work is something that you rarely get to think about, because you're usually occupying yourself with eating, sleeping, stealing random things and selling them, or, very occasionally, building your other persona as Okima, your birthname of 'Tamiko' spelled backwards. Except without the 't', 'cos that makes it look and sound strange.

The reason you're doing that is because Kiraa is a little too well-known, and you left that costume at home.

* * *

You run your dirk through some guy's throat, Hiei climbs in through the window, you hear him rummaging through stuff while you sit on the floor and carve what has become your symbol into the floor. A dirk stabbing down through a heart. You are very good at drawing this, now. You started teaching yourself. It'd help you get a name for yourself.

"Are you done?" you ask Hiei as you look up. "You know, I still can't believe you would do something with so little honor, stealing from a dead man, no challenge about it."

"I don't take anything. I just wonder what would make them worth killing for as much as they're paying you."

"Why, am I expensive?"

"No. You're right at the rate someone with your power should be."

"Huh?"

"Most of the demons you're killing has at least the same amount of power as The Detective."

"Yeah... I noticed..." you mumble. You don't believe in killing anyone in their sleep, it's not right. So you let them get up so they can fight, and then you kill them, and usually carve your little symbol thingie into the walls, floor, or on something else for someone to notice when they come to inspect the smell. The problem with this is that it's left several scars, cuts, and bruises all along you.

You hear a loud voice near the door shout "FREEZE!"

You only just glance up before Hiei grabs your wrist and pulls you with him to the roof. You hear someone curse.

"DAMN! We almost had 'er this time!"

"Jeez, Urameshi, did you see how fast she left?"

"I believe there were two of them."

No doubt Kurama knows you were here. He'll probably get to the conclusion if you don't do something, Hiei. He's too smart to left alone with his thoughts.

Hiei drops back into the room.

"Hiei! Good to see you again!" Yusuke says sarcastically.

"I've been taking a break from you idiots, and I want to know why you're here. I was i about /i to break in."

"Did you see anyone else here?"

"Yes."

"Dammit, Hiei! Where'd she go!?"

"Like I care. I was breaking in, she was finishing business and we both left when you broke down the door like a complete idiot."

"D'jyou see what she looked like?"

"Nothing but her clothes, and those were all black anyway," he answered grimly. "Are you going to arrest me for preparing to commit a crime, or can I leave?"

He speaks as if he's challenging them. They grumble a little. You stifle a giggle when you think about the fact that they're having a casual conversation in the presence of a very dead body.

"Did you talk at all?" Kurama finally asks. "Did she mention another job somewhere?"

At this, you suddenly remember somewhere else you need to be, and you manage to get off the roof without being heard, but someone sees you. Fortunately, it's Kuwabara, who was probably trying to keep from looking at Hiei and pissing him off. He's loud enough for you to hear, even at the distance you've gotten, and he unwittingly signals you to run faster.

"Urameshi, she's going somewhere else! QUICK!"

* * *

You vanish and start going faster, but you hear someone running after you, not Hiei. The steps aren't close enough together. You grin to yourself and jump onto the roof of a nearby house and jump to a room hardly far enough ahead to have outrun them. Luckily, you moved to fast for them to see, and you've officially lost Yusuke and Kurama.

The next job is a painfully easy one. You only just manage to wake him up and let him get to his most powerful, and you punch him in the face, inverting it before Yusuke and Kurama catch on and burst in. You're wearing a ninja mask ((the mouth-guard-scarf-thing)) over your face and your hair is in a tight braid, which actually makes you hard to recognize.

"Freeze!" Yusuke shouts.

You adopt a higher pitched, very effeminate voice. "Why would I want to do that, Mr. Detective?" you tease, beginning to skip backwards, over the dead body to the door. You see a flicker of movement, and Yusuke is gone. You sense him behind you, so you run straight forward, straight past Kurama, right to the window. You, just to make sure he doesn't get a good look, knock Kurama into the back wall and flee to the nearest sewer you can find and scramble half into it, dangling off the gutter, until all three of them rush past, though Kurama pauses a second, then runs along after Kuwabara gets within earshot. Hiei stops over your hands and holds down one of his own hands.

"Very good."

"I just avoided my first arrest," you say rather excitedly as he pulls you up and you brush yourself off.

"Not a scratch on you," he comments incredulously. "What did you do to the Fox?"

"Pushed him into a wall, I didn't want him getting a decent look at my face, you see."

"Hm."

"Did I hurt him?"

"He was breathing a little harder than before, and I doubt he was running that hard."

"Wouldn't be surprised," you mumble. "I have to go collect tomorrow, after it hits the news. Oh, wait. Dammit. Hang on, I'll be right back."

You head back to the scene of the second crime and carve a nice big symbol on the door and puts "Okima's work is never done" in his blood on the door.

* * *

You head quietly to a bar, hiding the scratch on your chest with your cloak, and you sit down at your usual corner, dragging one foot under the seat. You have half the money already, and he said he'd leave the other half stuck to the bottom of your seat. You drag your foot on the bottom of the seat and discover quite a bit of gum and something that flaps and is lightweight hits the floor. You scoop up the money and slip it into your pockets, not bothering to count, the wad is too thick, even if it was a set of ones, there'd still be at least a thousand, and you have plenty. You drag your foot under the opposite and pull the money toward you and put that in your other pocket. Two heads, two payments.

"Freeze, Okima, this time you're cornered."

"My, aren't we a nosy little fucker?" you tease, grinning at the males that have lined themselves up next to you. Even Hiei.

You get to your feet, and the first thing that hits you is a Spirit Gun shot, just as Hiei manages to draw his sword. You let the pressure from the attack slam you against the wall, which you use to kick off and spring clear over the boys, kicking all of them in the head as you pass over them, knocking them all odd ways, then push off the ceiling with your hands to send yourself foot first through the window. You land and start running, first leaping to the roof and running as quickly as you can along the rooftops. Which is pretty damn fast.

You stop running when you realize no one's coming after you. You can still hear them, but you return close enough so that no passing noises will cause problems.

"Dammit, we lost her again!"

"Hiei, why didn't you run after her?!"

"I tried. She's just as fast as I am."

"DAMMIT!" Yusuke shouts futilely, and you hear him punch someone or something. Kuwabara. So somewhere in between the 'someone' and 'something' line, you giggle mentally.

"HEY! It's not my fault, Urameshi!"

"Did she hurt anyone?"

"No. Not too bad."

"That's twice."

"So?"

"Curious behaviour."

"Aw, come on."

You hear one go back in and start to talk to someone, so you flee as quickly as you can.


	31. Where He's Been

_Where He's Been_

"Where is she?!"

"Why the hell do you keep asking out loud? You're only telling her where you are. She could appear and just kill you."

The footsteps on the street finally start again. Hiei's boots move into view and stop in front of your hands and he helps you out of the gutter again.

"Is that where the hell you go when you think I'm sleeping?" you snip at him unhappily.

"What?"

"Are you off telling the guys where I am?"

"Why would I do that?" Despite his tones, you can see in his face that he looks hurt, just a little, by the fact that you suspect he would stab you in the back.

"Because you're supposed to?"

"Need I remind you how much I hate Koenma? I'm simply going back to my own career."

"Stealing shit for profit?"

"Yes."

"Ah."

You don't know why, but you doubt him. So the next night, while you have nothing to do, you decide to follow him.

He meets with a dark figure in a forest ((Don't they all?)), arms crossed and head down while he waits at a tree.

"What do you want?"

"I came to make sure you leave her alone."

"Hm. You're worried about that demon bitch you've been working with."

"Yes. I know how you are with the female assassins, Kenshin. ((It's a name. And I'm actually basing the idea on a friend. Shut up.)) And I want you to leave this one alone. And consider my debt repaid."

"You warning me against this woman repays your debt?"

"She would kill you easily."

"Who said I wanted her?"

"You've been stalking her for three nights, and two of them have been in different cities. Do not try to lie to me."

"Hm. Say, Shrimp, I smell something funny, do you happen to know what that peculiarly female scent is coming from?"

You see Hiei's hair bristle at the nickname 'shrimp', and you mask your energy signature as well as you can, but you see his fingers flick gently at you as he mumbles his "Hn." GET LOST! sounds in your head so loudly that you have to fight the urge to grab your head, no matter the good it would do, and you silently slink away.

"Hmmm," you hear 'Kenshin' hum as you just leave earshot.

You return to the somewhat campsite that you and Hiei had picked out and wait silently, curled loosely into a ball while you stare around the dark glade.

"Why did you follow me?"

"You lied to me."

"I did not. I usually am taking care of business. He just happened to be a bit of unwanted business."

"Hang on, I'm still pissed off at you for lying to me."

You get to your feet, whirl around, and punch him in the cheek just hard enough to hurt. He staggers and holds his face, wincing just a little. You glare. "Now, to satisfy the rest of my curiosity."

You sit back down, still semi-curled up and glaring out at nothing. "Who was he, what does he want, how does he know you, exactly what did he save you from, and when?"

"Kenshin, you, teamed up for a job, a trap, and a few years ago."

"Okay. Do I get details on the 'you' part?"

"He is... attracted... to female assassins. The more mysterious, the better. No one has even seen your face without dying or knowing you beforehand. You're awesome prey. He's seen me with you, and he's been following the two of us for a while."

You giggle. "Yeah, your debt seriously is repaid if he stays the fuck away. What about the other times you've gone? Business, or just trying to null any assassination attempts for me?"

"I was not lying when I told you I was off doing my own business."

"Ahh. The old 'not telling the whole truth' trick. I should really have caught on to that. It explained why you didn't leave that third time the first night. So you didn't want to kill me?"

"I wouldn't kill you without reason."

"Lemme rephrase. You didn't want anyone to follow you and kill me."

"Hn."

"I'm not going to sleep tonight. It's my turn to stand guard anyway," you mumble, leaning against the tree, staring out at nothing.

"Hm?"

"Like I haven't noticed you're awake every time I wake up."

"That's usually because of your screams."

"My what?"

"You scream in your sleep."

"I do?"

He doesn't answer vocally, but you feel his weight shift on the ground as he sits next to you. That means 'yes', and you can assume that the sitting next to you was as good as a hug. Or you thought, anyway, until you realize that he's trembling.

"Your hand is shaking," you mumble. You felt his hand brush you and it was trembling like someone with palsey. "What's got you shaking like that? I smell that fear..."

He shakes his head, though you're not sure if he's denying fear or the shaking.

"Why are you scared?"

"I'm not."

"Hm."

He eventually leans against the tree and almost against you, and you suddenly realize that he's gone to sleep. You touch him gently, only just manage to avoid his katana when he swings it at you out of instinct. You point to his usual perch, and he suddenly understands. You settle and let him on his perch over your head to let him sleep.

The silence all around you, getting on your nerves as much as the noise of your mind. You wrack your brains for what you might dream of that would make you scream, and then you wrack your brains for any nightmares you've had, and then you try to remember if anybody breaking your mind would cause any sort of alert while you're asleep in the same way it does when you're awake.

You feel something tap into your mind. You glance up at Hiei, then look around, and you wait for a second, until you finally think you can talk to it. And just what are you trying to find in here? Are you lost?

A pause lays itself out, increasing your impatience and your ill mood. I'm lost. I was trying to find your real identity, but you have quite a few, and I can't pick one from the other.

I suggest you get out before you hurt yourself.

I can't, I'm lost, and I'm confused.

You close your eyes, you try to find the one that has lost itself in your mind by retreating into your head, and you force it out. When you open your eyes, you find yourself being cradled to Kenshin's chest.

"Ah. Thought so," you grumble. "Didn't Hiei tell you to stay away?"

"Indeed he did, but your allure was just far too powerful for me to resist, my sweet," he whispers, leaning close to your face and kissing it lightly. You wait calmly for a second, letting him get his guard down.

"Why aren't you fighting? Hiei said you would kill me."

"I may. I don't have a reason to, yet," you say, glowering.

He smiles and lets you down to the ground, putting one hand on your shoulder under your collar, and the other one at your waist, also under your shirt, and beginning to creep itself up. You wait just a second longer as he puts his face to your neck, and you take out your dirk and jam it into his ear. He makes a gurgling sound. You calmly remove his hands and push him back. He's not dead yet.

"Silly man," you whisper. "He warned you. I am his, sweetheart, not yours." You pull your knife out of his head and he makes another gurgling sound. You stab him in the heart and leave him to bleed to death. You noticed, when he was carrying you, that his heart is actually somewhere near where your appendix is, so you manage to make a very ugly wound in that region.

You carve into a tree another symbol and you find your way back to Hiei, where you curl up at the foot of the tree and stare out at nothing.


	32. Before Their Hearts Stop

Hello, dears. This is, if you haven't guess, the author. I haven't been very social, and I figure at the third-of-the-way through, I should be. (Actually, this is closer to three sixteenths of the way through.)

Hello, BrokenRedWings (I think that's your name.) Thank you very much for your multiple reviews, and the corrections, and so on and so forth. (This is an old story, I was young when I wrote it.)

And then. ... I'm wanting to call you Kagome, the other constant reviewer, but I don't remember your name (I'm terrible about that, and I am lazy.), but thank you very much for the reviews.

With that said, I would like to ask-- WHY THE HELL DIDN'T ANY OF YOU TELL ME THE CHAPTERS WERE ALL BUNCHED UP LIKE THAT?! I read it, and I didn't know that my little space-makers didn't stay in the transition between the wordpad and this thing, and I had to go through and add the hr spacers! Even I was confused!

Anyway. Thank you, everyone, it's very nice to see that my story is appreciated. However, a fair warning, at this point (too late.) that this story is VERY long. Very. Eighty-one... Or three... chapters.

Anyway. Nice to see you all. Have fun. Don't lynch me when you get to the end. I may or may not speak to you again. Saijonara.

* * *

_Before Their Hearts Stop_

Nothing happens again until morning. Hiei wakes up with a start, and you jump in surprise.

"Did you kill him?"

"Unless he can recover from a stab in the ear and the heart, yeah," you mumble, stretching where you sit.

"What did he do?"

"That warrented the stab, or the whole thing?"

"Hn."

"Tricked me, carried me away, kissed me twice, I think, and when I stabbed him, he had one hand under my collar on my shoulder, and the other one half up my side under my shirt. His face was somewhere near my chest, so I stabbed him in the ear, pushed him back, and I stabbed him in the heart."

"His actual heart, or where his heart should have been?"

"Actual heart. Right where my appendix is."

"Hm."

"You're not upset about that, are you?"

"He wasn't very skilled or trustworthy. I warned him."

"Yeah, me, too," you mumble. "Where to next? We need to get a move on before the others-"

A noise makes you jump, and you only just manage to leap into the tree Hiei's in just before Yusuke grabs you. You feel his fingers brush your shoulders, he's so close to grabbing you.

You adopt the high voice again as you tie the ninja mask back on and put your hair in a hurried ponytail before they recognize you. They had attacked from behind you.

"DAMMIT! Hold still!" he demands. You look to your right, and you can see that Hiei's still there, to your surprise.

"They're working together," Kurama mumbles. "She must be very skilled."

You giggle again. "Would you like to stay and fight me, Monsier Kitsune, and find out that my power doesn't only lie in my skills?" you tease.

"No, Okima," Hiei hisses. You look at him with surprise. "We can't have them dead, Koenma will have his armies after you before their hearts stop."

"Oh, alright," you sigh. "Ta-ta!"

You leap over to the tree, purposefully going faster than their eyes should have been able to track.

"Dammit, they're persistant!" you growl as you duck into the water of the hotspring you've found. You've only gone down to your underwear, but even so, Hiei has pretty much fled. He's within earshot, hardly within eyeshot, and he's got his back turned.

"How did they find us?"

"I don't know."

"You were quiet last night, weren't you?"

"Hiei, do you think I'm dumb enough to get caught? I think we were seen retreating out here is all. In fact, they might have been following Kenshin hoping to get lucky."

"Hn."

You duck under the water, head and all, and you wait a minute before you come up.

"Did you hear me?" Hiei's asking.

"Sorry, water in my ears, hang on," you mumble, hitting the side of your head to knock the water out.

"I asked if you said anything to Kenshin."

"No." You try to remember if that's the truth or not, but it completely throws you on a loop when you try to remember if you actually had said anything to him or not. You'd remembered an empty spot, but you can't imagine what you said to him.

"I think if we injured one of the guys, we'd be able to get at least a little headstart," you say after a bit of thought.

"Probably. If we're going to do that, I'd prefer you let me do it."

"Don't trust me?" you challenge.

"No, I don't, not on that matter.

"Oh. How sweet."

You growl a little and lift yourself out of the water and rest on a rock neighboring the pool.

"Someone just shoot me," you growl as your wring your hair out and braid it.

"What?" Hiei demands from behind you.

"Nothing," you bark back. You don't know why, but you're in a very ill mood, now. You brush the remaining water off you and dress quickly.

"Come on, Hiei, they're close," you hiss. You don't know if he heard you, but it surprises you when Yusuke drops in front of you and tackles you and pins you down. Your nose just touches his.

"Please don't fight, I'm not going to hurt you," he semi-whispers, looking at you with glazed-over eyes. You stifle a giggle.

"I believe you," you whisper back, smiling unintentionally. You don't fight, though. You wait to see what Hiei does.

"Hiei, please stop!" Kurama demands. You hear a struggle going on to the north of you.

"Can you guys handle him?" Yusuke offers, almost shouting. It hurts your ears, due to the close proximity.

"Ouch, Detective, don't bark in my ear, I'd hate to have to hurt you for something as silly as that."

"He's fighting," Kurama answers with a strained voice. This is all the information you need. You kick Yusuke off you, extend a whip of energy from two fingertips, lash his chest just enough to make him bleed and ache, and then you use the same thing to knock Kurama's rose whip off and Kuwabara's sword away from Hiei. The two of you flee quickly, first leaping into a tree, where you pause to look back and flip them off playfully, then jump to a neighboring tree and head towards the next town.


	33. Buying Time

_Buying Time_

"Did I hurt them badly?" you ask.

"We're both outlaws, now."

"Why did you fight?"

"Why didn't you?"

"I was waiting to see what you were doing. Why did you fight?"

He doesn't answer. He just settles where he sits in his seat and stares at the deck of cards in your hand. You deal out Rummy and lean back in your seat, listening to the whispering going on around you.

You hear a noise to your right and look over to see a whisp of an apparation.

"Yes?"

He leans to your ear.

"You are Okima, yes?"

"Uh-huh," you mumble.

"I would like to conduct some business with you."

"Congrats."

"I need a man called "Kenshin" dead."

"Interesting. I want the money up front. Ten thousand."

The apparation slips the money into your hand under the table.

"He's dead," you tell him as you pocket the money. "I killed him last night."

"You lie! He was in my house this morning!"

"Nooo... I was one of his stalkees. According to him," you mumble, pointing to Hiei. "And he found me last night, and I stabbed his ear and his appendix. Er. Heart. He moved it."

The whisp takes his money back, talking about dirty liars.

"It's possible that you didn't kill him," Hiei mumbles. "He was not very strong, but his survivalism is impressive."

"Well. That's-"

"Got her!" Yusuke shouts as you feel a pair of... handcuffs? close around your wrists as your hands fold themselves on the table.

"Handcuffs." You mean for your voice to sound eight times more condescending than it does, but you just can't pass it off right when you sound like a girl.

"Just try and break 'em."

You try, and you can't. You applaud him, then you sling your arms into a hammerfist attack to his ribs. He hits the wall and you start to run.

"Hiei, cover me 'til I can get out!" you call, jumping over Kurama and bouncing on Kuwabara's head before you get past all of them. The whole bar actually gets up to help them though. You growl under your breath and sweep the feet out from under everyone around you, having to kind of juggle yourself to do so. Surprisingly difficult when you do this with the handcuffs.

You manage to get out, but not before the others have Hiei restrained. You shoot a spirit gun shot through the window at him, enabling him to break free, and you make a run for it, just a little slower than normal so Hiei can catch up.

"How are they finding us?!"

"The trail of dead bodies and the name you've earned for yourself," Hiei explains. "I have to go take care of something," he says as he stalks off with his hands in his pockets.

"Well wait up for me, I don't wanna have to go into hiding without you knowing," you say, following him at a trot until you get behind him.

"If you get me caught, I'll kill you," he warns.

"Agreed."


	34. Beginning of Attraction

_Beginning of Attraction_

The two of you stop at a pub and rest at a table, eavesdropping and listening carefully, until someone sees Hiei and recognizes him. The demon drags him out of the seat before either of you can stop the guy. Or chick.

"Spirit detective," he growls, still holding Hiei's collar.

"Not smart, fucking around with someone that can easily kill you," he growls, moving to take out his sword. With a movement too quick for you to track, the other guy's fist connects with Hiei's jaw and he hits the wall hard. You decide not to get involved, yet, because this is Hiei's fight, not yours. You watch the big guy, though, to make sure you're not next.

He doesn't go for you, but you're surprised when your seat erupts into flames, and you have to get up with a yelp and stomp out your cloak. In your moment of distraction, a second demon grabs your neck, and another moves in close behind you, taking hold of your arms.

You only just see Hiei get to his feet and get knocked again. The one fighting Hiei is only a little faster, but strong enough to keep Hiei down for a second, so he can recover from punching Hiei.

"You're one, too, ain'chya?" the one holding your hands behind your back hisses violently before he runs his tongue along the edge of your ear. You try to twitch your head, but the guy holding your neck doesn't let you. You can hardly breathe.

"She ain't figh'n'," the one holding your neck says, narrowing his eyes. "Don't tell me the great and powerful Hiei's got himself a bitch friend."

"Idiot" you gasp, kicking his elbow backwards. The available hand doesn't catch you quickly enough. The one behind you tries to shift his grip, but you plant a firm kick in his lower abs, then his groin, then his throat as you flip to untwist your arms. Hiei has managed to get to his feet and he's fighting a few more demons that have decided to join the cause of eliminating you. He's fighting with a ferocity and a fervor you don't recognize, and he looks enraged.

"We can't let any of them leave, they'll lead the others here!" Hiei calls. "Get the door!"

Whether or not it's actually necessary, you decide that it would be more fun to kill them all. Unfortunately, bloodthirst is a symptom of your demonhood, and it's been very awake since you've lived in the Makai, murdering people for a living. You nod, climb to the rafters, run across them, then land near the door, locking it quickly and shooting everyone heading for you with a Spirit Gun. The ones that aren't obliterated are thrown back. You draw a dirk ((Long dagger or a short shortsword)) and start slashing gracefully, dancing around and spinning and blocking most attacks and not minding the ones you don't block.

You watch Hiei cut through all those demons, focused on killing someone besides you, concentrated, and very very sexy, right now, hacking and slashing, with the light in his face and a very proud, satisfied smirk. You want nothing more ((Even with the bloodbath around you still occuring)) than to go and fuck him into the wall. ((What?! Stop looking at me like that!!! It's not my fault, it's all that nasty little bitch in my head's fault, she's making me do it! I'd get her out... but... Um... shuts up, starts typing on the story again))

Sadly, before long, there is no one to fight. Hiei recieved, maybe, six scratches total. You have one on your face that might bleed a little more than you want, but little more than that. You seriously consider going and screwing him into the wall again, but you leave it at a proud smile and a peck on the cheek.

* * *

**Hiei**  
The whole time you're fighting, you can't help but admire her, the embodiment of power and strength composed of swirling clothes, glinting blades, and, occasionally, spurts of blood. The grace that surrounds her while she slits throats, dances around, leaps and flips and cuts and stabs is mesmerizing and captivating. She is absolutely amazing, and beautiful, and you know it, and, for these few minutes, you are utterly infatuated with her, this mixed-breed goddess of beauty and power. ((Hahaha... Neat, huh? Almost cute. And kinda... you know... insane. Well, what do you want, someone as cutthroat as Hiei, what the fuck do you think he'll find attractive? Hell, I like the sound of it! I love the dangerous-looking people. And, if I had to guess, so do you, because you're here instead of a Kurama quiz. Of course, that might also be because you're _straight._ Or. Er. Not. giggles maniacally))

At at the end of her fight, she looks, somehow, even more beautiful than before, even with the very small bit of blood-splatter on her face and hands, and the gash on her cheek bone, with a white-toothed, violent, frighteningly attractive smile and morbidly glinting, delighted eyes...

She pecks you on the cheek and smiles proudly, but you catch a look in her eye that, even through the morbidity, is distant and confused...

* * *

**You**  
You don't leave the bar after the slaughter. The remaining demons, the ones who didn't fight, flee. You've made them promise to be quiet. But you keep the doors locked, close all the blinds and windows and the like, and you both keep your seats at the corner booth, each enjoying a particularly strong drink.

You, eventually, let your eyes float up to him from your place, hunched against the wall, and you see that he's staring down at you. You smile a little. "Tchya thinkin' about, Hiei?"

"Hn," he answers. You smirk a little and sit up and lean across the table, looking up at his face adorably. The alcohol and fight have left you in a good mood.

"Come on, Hiei, darling, don't be so mean to me, I'm not going to use anything I hear against you, I'm too much of an assassin to be a cop. Please?"

He glares and shoves you away gently. You take the hint and slump back against the wall until you decide to go get another drink, downing what's left of your third one.

"Do we have to sleep outside?" you finally ask. "Maybe they won't be able to track us if we stay somewhere public. It's out of our natures."

"Hn."

"Please?"

"Fine."

"Yay!"

"When are we going?"

"Ur... later."

So the two of you sit, drinking and drinking, trading words and playing poker or rummy or crazy eights or whatever else you can think of to play, until, eventually, he goes and sits off in another corner, leaving you to play solitaire, though it becomes increasingly difficult to play. Er. Concentrate. Something. You spot Hiei in the corner, and you suddenly can't remember why he left, so you decide that you should go and ask. You move to the seat across from him, almost killing yourself over eight or so chairs that were not completely obliterated by the fight, But you sit down and you smile cheerfully at him.

"I'm afraid, dear sir, that the alcohol has left me in a very peculiar state of mind, and I can't remember why you abandoned me all on me onesie over at that corner all the way over there, Hiei."

He doesn't say anything. He just looks at your drunk face, you think, with those very pretty red eyes, and he stands... er... sits... or... something, there and he just stares at you. Doesn't move for a while, but it never occurs to you to ask again. You kinda forgot what you were asking him, anyway.

His face comes into focus, and you notice that he's got a funny face on his face.

"Uh... what's... um... wrong?"

He still doesn't say anything. He just leans his head closer to yours, and, quite suddenly, you're caught in a kiss that you're not offering, and wasn't a part of a dare. This is a kiss for you. Your mouth opens with your surprise, and you feel his tongue hit yours, and you're thinking the whole time, what the hell are we doing, he's kissing me, there are all these dead people around, his mouth tastes funny, should I kiss him back, oh my god, what the hell should I do, why is he kissing me, does he like me, too, oh, no, what if he does, he kisses really well, should I kiss him back...?

You kiss him back and one of your arms snakes around his neck and over his shoulders, and you smile a little when one of you finally breaks the kiss. One of you had helped you pull yourself over the table or around it, or he had come and sat next to you, but then it stops, and he pulls away, and you both down some more alcohol in an attempt to forget what just happened.


	35. Realization

_Realization_

After the drunkeness passes ((after a few hours, though both of you started getting squirmy at the bar)), you find a hotel or something and break in. There's only one bed- you'd meant to find one of the rooms with two beds, but you almost got caught while you were breaking in, and you aren't about to go back out and do so and possibly cause problems or bring any amount of attention to yourselves. He's in the shower, right now, and you're resting on the bed, intending to shower as soon as possible. You'd kinda gotten rid of the blood on you, but you still needed to rinse out your clothes and get the blood off them, and get rid of the smell on your hands and face and the rest of you.

Hiei walks into the room, wearing his pants from before, shaking his hair dry. You suddenly realize that you didn't bring anything to sleep in while this stuff rinsed out. You hadn't even considered hygeine when you left, but you hadn't had to worry about it until now. _That's okay, I'll just take care of it when he's asleep,_ you think. Your mind is closed, but you're still worried that he might have heard you. He walks over to the window and sits down on the railing of the balcony, staring out over at the city, listening to the random noises.

You go to take your shower, but when you come back, Hiei hasn't moved from his place on the railing, so you go check on him.

"Hiei?" you ask, walking out. You're in your bra and your pants, but he looks at you and turns his head when he sees what you're wearing.

"What?" he asks, finally.

"What're you doing?"

He pauses for a minute, apparently debating if he should answer. "Thinking," he says finally.

"About what?"

Another pause. You look at him and wonder if you've said something wrong. He looks almost angry. Maybe you shouldn't have asked, you realize. You shake your head. "I'm sorry, Hiei. I'll go to bed," you murmur, turning around and starting to leave.

"About you," he answers as you step inside.

"Oh," you say. You smile a little, knowing the answer is a sign that he doesn't want you to leave. So you sit down on the railing next to him and listen to the sounds, thinking as well, wondering if he feels anything for you before you start yawning.

"Go to bed," he says, looking at you. He doesn't look angry at you, and his voice is not nearly as commanding as usual.

"Alright," you mutter, sliding off the railing on the wrong side and jumping over it to go back to your room. You look back at him, see that he's not looking, and you drop your pants, leaving you in your underwear, and you slide into the cold sheets, waiting for your warmth to pull you into sleep.

As you lay there, you think a little more, and smirk as you close your eyes, falling into sleep, cradled by the burst of joy and energy that the fear of being in love brought you.

You wake up to something moving on the bed and your first reaction is to power your fists and feet up, before you remember that you're in the Makai and you're sleeping in the same bed with someone. Which suprises you after a second of thought, and tempts you at the same time. Then you see how close to the wrong side of the bed you're on.

"Did I wake you up?" you ask drowsily, scooting back to your side of the bed, which has long ago gotten cold. The complimentary clock on the bedside table says 2:07, and you wince.

"Yes, you did," he answers. "You were screaming."

He's standing on the other end of the room, facing the wall, as if trying to ignore you. You look at the bedsheets, then at yourself. You're covered in cold sweat.

"I'm sorry," you say softly. Nightmare, you assume. About what?

"You can't help nightmares," he answers. You squirm into the bed more carefully, and welcome the cold of the sheets around you. How'd you get on the other side of the bed, anway? Eeeek!! What if you snuggled in your sleep?! Agh! You feel your face turn bright red and you duck back into the bed and curl up tightly, hoping it wouldn't happen again. Hiei eventually gets back in the bed, but he's staring at you with his Jagan eye through the cloth on his head. You close your eyes with a sigh, feeling very unforgiven, and you put a pillow over your head in hopes you could muffle the screams without strangling yourself.

"Sorry, Hiei," you mutter again, reaching out for him and patting his hand. You feel how tense he is, but you leave your hand on his arm as you sink into sleep yet again.

The darkness is folded around the band of light that held you in its ever-frightening beam of visibility. You want it to go away, but you can't make it- you don't know where it's coming from. Then you see him. Hiei. He's laying on the ground, away from you, asleep or unconcious and bound heavily by chains and rope. You call for him, but he doesn't even stir. Someone in the dark walks up to him and his beam of light, a man with longer-than-normal limbs. You look hard at him and see that it's Kenshin. He kneels next to Hiei, who now stirs. He looks at you menacingly and starts sinking his claws into Hiei's side and digging in, making a squelching sound. You screw your eyes shut, but can't stand to do so, afraid he'll be next to you in the next instant. And then you start to move for him, but you're bound, too. You look over yourself and see shackles on your forearms, upper arms, thighs, ankles, neck and waist to the floor, with the chains so short you can't even get to your hands and knees. "You bastard!" you shriek as Kenshin puts his hand farther into Hiei's side. The prone demon on the floor is now awake and has his mouth open, like he's in horrible pain and trying to scream, but can't summon the breath. The creature puts his hand all the way in. Hiei suddenly makes a very strange, disturbing, frightening sound, like a gasp, a groan, and a scream all rolled into one. Kenshin rips out Hiei's heart, and you hear his voice whisper something incoherent. The creature walks over to you and presses the heart to your mouth, like he's trying to feed it to you. You can't do anything to fight it, and suddenly, there's a chunk of Hiei's bloody heart resting in your mouth. The taste the blood in your mouth and feel it run over your tongue, and you try to spit it out, but the creature claps his hand over your mouth. You start to weep again, and then scream endlessly as the creature sinks its claws into the sides of your neck, forcing your head up and hurting like hell.

You're awakened again by Hiei putting his hand on your shoulder, standing next to your side of the bed. You, before you can think about it, grab his arm and twist it, then release and sigh with relief and hug his waist, happy that he's still alive.

"Oh, god, oh," you whisper. He doesn't pull away. He just looks at you like he's completely confused, until he finally gets tired of it and steps back. You sit up, still choking on your tears.

"What the hell was that about?"

"I hate my nightmares," you groan, getting up and pulling your pants back on, so you can go to get you some water for your dry throat. "I hate them. I hate them," you chant once you get to the bathroom and down several glasses.

"What happened?" he asks after a minute. He sounds concerned, but hesitant to ask.

"I was force-fed your freshly ripped out heart," you say, looking at him. His Jagan glows a little, watching you. You feel that strange thickness in your throat along with the funny taste in your mouth, and you turn to the toilet and throw up. And afterward, you realize that you can taste his blood in your mouth. You swill some more water in your mouth before spitting.

"For fuck's sake," you moan, slumping to the floor. "Can we go now, Hiei? I don't want to be here anymore!" you say quickly, going back to the bed and pulling on the shirt and cloak. "And if you're not going, I'm going to go get this taste out of my mouth. Your blood tastes a little different from mine."

He looks at you, eyes wide, like he's shocked, or scared, then goes to bed, but even he looks worried about something.

You get halfway out the window, then look back at him.

"You're you, right? That last dream was a dream and you're not some replacement of the real Hiei, are you?" you ask, looking him up and down. "I've never known you to act so... emotional."

"I've never seen you weep because of something someone else did," he points out. "So that makes a start for two of us." You leave him with a comforted sigh, even though you're still freaked out at the dream and the fact that you can still taste Hiei's blood and heart.

When you get back, you're still frustrated. You'd eaten everything you could afford to out of one pocket, but the taste was STILL THERE.

Hiei's awake when you get back. He's on the balcony, sitting on the railing. You move next to him.

"I'm back," you say.

"Hn," he answers.

"Hiei, I'm scared."

"Nothing either one of us can do about it."

"True," you mutter. You, desperate for comfort, reach over and put one hand on his and put your head on his shoulder. He doesn't move much than to turn his head and look at you, but then he goes back to staring out over the city.


	36. The First Ones

_The First Ones_

"Should we go back?" you ask after you reach the stoop that has to have at least eighty stairs.

"How? Why? What good would it do?"

"Good point."

You start inside, holding your fist closed around a dagger that you brought, and you look around, trying to mask your fear. Someone drops in front of you, a humanoid rooster, you think. He (or she) is four feet tall, has wings and chicken feet, but stands upright and has a feathered human head.

"I'm insulted," you say aloud, looking at him/her and crossing your arms. "Hiei, you wanna take care of this, or shall I?"

Hiei steps forward, but when he does, something picks him up into the air and holds him there, stiff as a board. You recognize that- you can do that, too (in fact, it's your favorite way to shut Ender up, 'cos you can beat him into a wall like that.)

"Oh, dammit," you murmur. You step forward, and you feel its energy wrap around you, too, but you don't need to move to control your energy. You freeze as it begins to squeeze you. You throw yours at him, attempting to slug him, but it steps back and slams Hiei into a wall, but before he can do it again, you've got him ramming his own head against the ceiling over and over again, until it fights your grip on him and you fight off his grip on yourself and Hiei, using his distraction to your advantage.

It makes a very odd squawking sound and lets go, then runs at you and hits you with its talons. You manage to catch the talons on your arm and you grab its leg and throw it into the ground and stab your dagger into its back. You stand over it, grinning. "There you go," you say, looking at Hiei. "Powers like mine are not to be messed with, even if I have no element." ((Let's just say that one day, you two got into... a "discussion" about how useless your powers to pick things up and move them are.))

He gets up and glares a little at you, then you both start back down the hall. You have to punch your way through vegetable people. They're easy to take down, but you begin to detect that your energy is starting to lower, and there is nothing but more.

You have no choice but to keep cutting through them like weeds, whacking away at the walls and walls walking towards you, until you meet another one. The Horse. This is, almost certainly, a woman, unless it is a guy with a hormone problem. She is a centaur-looking demon, and almost everything about her is a different shade of green. You figure she has a thing for earth or plants, depending.

"Why are you here, detectives?"

You stand with your arms at your sides, preparing to fight. Hiei steps forward, though, so you stand back and cross your arms.

Plants grow out of the wall and reach out to seize the oni, but he cuts them away and lunges at her. She doesn't move until the last second, when she rears up onto her back legs and kicks him very firmly in the face. He staggers back, holding his mouth and nose, then looks at her with a face of rage, then suddenly vanishes. The centaur looks around, wide-eyed. "Where'd he go? Where did he go!?" she demands.

Hiei is actually clinging to some of the vines on the wall from where she'd sent them after him, but then he drops down. She catches him with the vines and drags him back to the wall and they start to cut his air off. His blade drops, and he struggles to get the bitch to let him the fuck go. You focus pretty hard on the plants holding him, then another set of vines drags you to the wall and keeps your back turned, so you can't see.

"You can't use your energy if you can't see where you should use it," she says in a singsong voice. You growl and start trying to drag yourself off the wall, breaking the vines around your neck. Hiei makes a strangled sound, probably not meaning to. You drag yourself off the wall some more and rotate your head until you can see Hiei at least out of the corner of your eye, and you start helping Hiei drag the vines off him. He falls down off the wall and hits the ground, then vanishes. You suspect that he's slashing her into several peices, because all you hear is the sound of a blade through flesh. You lose track of how many times he cut her, but it doesn't really matter, 'cos she's dead. He cuts you down, and you know it doesn't matter, but you ask anyway.

"How many times, Hiei? I only counted twelve, but my ears were having trouble picking apart the single sounds."

"Twenty-one," he answers, smirking slightly. You both start forward again, but you pause, punching random veggie people in the faces and chests, knocking them down.

"Where are we going?"

"To find the rest," he says.


	37. The Next Two

_The Next Two_

You're running down the halls, curious as to exactly what the hell you're going to do about whoever happens to be the ringleader- you're sure it's the dragon or the tiger. More and more and more of those stupid veggie-people along the way, which is wearing you down, bit by bit, because you don't want to waste your spirit gun or Shotgun on it.

But the next one to fight is actually the rat. Who isn't a rat himself, but has millions of them with him. You're reminded of Willard. You start making walls around the many many many rats, sort of like jezzball. You put a small barrier around the main demon, then you put a very large one around all the little rats, and you start to make the small one grow and the large one shrink until all you can see is a mess of blood, and then you let the smaller barrier on the inside go, and you hear gurgling noises of the rat demon drowning in blood. ((I thought it sounded cool. ... Shut up, and STOP LOOKING AT ME LIKE THAT!))

"That was creative," Hiei says as you walk around the barrier, ignoring the rats you missed, and starting to knock through some more of the veggie people.

"I hope we get a challenge, next. This is getting old," you say aloud. "They're as annoying as the stupid veggie people." You knock a few more down and fight to get through them.

Someone drops out of the ceiling. He reminds you of Byakko, but he's much bigger height-wise and skinnier. "You get your wish," he says, dropping onto all fours. "But this challenge will be the one to kill you."

"Oh, good," you say, stretching and pulling out your sword. He grins at you. You rush forward and hold your sword out to stab him, but he grabs the blade and breaks it, then hits you against a wall. You laugh and drop the hilt.

"You know, that probably just saved my life," you say. "Weapons aren't my style."

"Oh?" You kick off the wall and launch yourself at him, using a powered up fist to punch him in the ribs, then bounce off the opposite wall at his head. He catches you and throws you to the floor, then starts to stomp on you, but you make a spike out of your energy and push it up and above you, so he impales his foot on it and starts screaming. Unfortunately, he picks his foot back up before you can move, so the energy that you've yet to disconnect from the rest of you hauls you with him, until he shakes his foot and you drop the spike, rolling up onto the floor. He roars, now pissed, and lunches at you. You curl into a ball and do it again, this time looking more like a morningstar's ball, with spikes jutting everywhere. He impales himself on it, then throws you into a wall where you comically stick. You let the spikes fall again and you fall to the floor, landing in a crouch, leaving you with hardly enough time to jump out of the way of the monstrous balls of energy he's launching at you out of his throat. You get hit with the first one, then you jump out of the way, making a gun with your fingers and you point it at him.

"SPIRIT GUN!" you roar, shooting a very powerful blast at him, knocking him to the floor. He roars at you and gets up and launches at you again, only this time, you punch him in the face, inverting his snout.

"Well-" you begin.

"Impressive!" the rat behind you says. "Very impressive! But you didn't finish me!"

You step forward and look at him, grinning. "Hello, little rat," you say. "I'm sorry I didn't finish our game. But now I'm free to do so, so let's go."

He grows, quite suddenly, to about twenty feet tall ((Yes, he can do that, even inside.)) and lowers himself onto all fours and breathes on you. A greenish-gray gas comes out of his mouth and you cover your mouth with your cloak and Hiei breathes through his sleeve. Your eyes are watering, though, and you can't see. Something hits you hard over your torso and you fly into the wall, being pressed there by something. All the air in your lungs is literally forced out of you, making an incredible sound. You hear Hiei swear and something screams.

Knife...? Spirit sword? What's a knife? Is it like a dagger, FOCUS! You think for a minute struggling to think hard enough about what you need to do with your energy to do it, before you finally just rock against whatever it is, and listen to Hiei try to fight it.

**Hiei**  
The smoke leaves the rat's mouth, and you cover your mouth instinctually. Kali puts her cloak over her mouth, but the cloth is too light, or her eyes are too easily affected, and she doesn't see the rat's tail as it swings towards her and hits her. It's moving too fast for even you to do anything about, so you swear to yourself and leap up at its face. It catches your leg in its mouth, but doesn't manage to sink it's teeth too deeply into you before you stab it in the muzzle. It screams, of course, but doesn't let go enough to let you free. You hear some coughs, and when you poke into her mind, you have to leave very quickly before you get caught in it, too, and get confused and lost.

"Release my leg and I'll consider easing your pain rather than letting her do it her way," you threaten futilely at the rat.

"Hahaha, ease my pain? Let her do it?" it slurs, taking you by the middle in one hand. "She's too busy dying to kill me, and I certainly don't see what good you're doing!" it cackles. You reach up and cut its hand off, which pins you to the ground briefly before you can get up.

"Alright, alright!"

**You**  
"Alright, alright!" the demons shrieks. You fall to the floor and scramble desperately for good air, having run out a while ago, but not being able to move too quickly at all. You hear footsteps behind you and you feel arms help you to the good air and you sit on your feet on the floor, breathing deeply, all too aware of how much the oxygen is missed.

"Are you okay?" you ask Hiei, hearing your voice sound oddly hollow.

"I'm fine," he says, grabbing your arm and pulling you to your feet. You go back to racing down the halls.


	38. Trouble

Allo!

Sorry it's so short, this and the other. I should be adding another chapter soon to make up for it. And, if you read this one first, Hell Goddess, or Goddess of Hell or whatever the hell your name is- Hello, good to see you, please continue to review.

-R.F.

* * *

_Trouble_

"OUCH!" you hear someone yelp. You immediately recognize the voice as Kuwabara's.

"Shit, what the fuck are they doing here?" you growl heatedly as you run. You and Hiei both stop running when they come into view down the hall. They're standing in one place, a dead end, with a pale, dead-looking man that has a dark spot on his chest. You strain your eyes and manage to pick out the details of a buffalo tattoo. "What does he do?" you ask yourself as you get closer.

As you get closer, a wall springs up between the boys and you. Even Hiei, who had run a little ahead of you, gets caught. You hear bangings from the walls, and you start shooting your best shots at the wall. It cracks, slowly but surely. Another wall springs up, maybe five feet behind you, if that, but you keep beating the shit out of the wall in front of you until, suddenly, it breaks. A wall of water hits you and slams you into the wall behind you, nearly knocking you out. Someone drags you up into fresh air, and you pull the mask off so you can breathe. (The water in it is making it increasingly difficult to do so without drowning.)

"Kali!?" demand two confused voices. Kurama just nods and hums.

"This certainly explains a lot."

"Shut up and hang on," you growl. You start blasting the shit out of the wall opposite you. Yusuke helps you. Kurama can't hold himself firmly enough in one place to help you, Kuwabara's clinging to the wall to keep from drowning, and Hiei's treading water in a back corner near where you've got your back pressed.

The wall in front of you cracks a little, but nothing more. You run out of bullets long after Yusuke does, but then the water, which has slowly been rising, reaches the ceiling. You only just manage to take in a breath before the room completely fills up with water.

The water is apparently still flowing, because the wall starts to crack more, and more, and more, until it bursts. You roll with the water, tumbling madly and rolling around in the water, unable to fight the current, and you hit the ground and roll. The water pounds you into the ground, occasionally sweeping you a little more forward.

Something hits your head, and you look up to see Hiei's boot. He's not breathing.

"FUCK! HIEI!" you shriek, crawling up to him and checking his pulse. Nothing. The first thing you do is panic and almost begin to weep, but you know that it won't help to do that. So, naturally you hit him in the chest, then start on CPR, focusing on exactly what you're doing to keep the panic out of your mind.

The others are around you, you think. You hear them move or groan, and Kuwabara screams, but you're too busy to stop.

"One, two, three, four, five." You pause and breathe into his mouth, twice. You keep doing this, over and over, and he finally coughs up water and rolls onto his side and coughs and throws up even more water. You breathe a sigh of relief and sit back against a rock that happened to have landed there, closing your eyes. He sits up and looks down at you, and you look up at him.

"What happened?"

"Wall broke. You were dead. Did CPR," you answer. "And now I'm tired."

"We can't go back," he says.

"I used all my energy on breaking the walls and on helping start your heart. I'm tired. Let me rest." He sits right in front of you, arms and legs crossed, not moving. You lay still, smiling a little. You're still awake, but you're so drained that you can't move too well.

Then you suddenly remember that the others are there. You roll your head back and stare up at them, even though they're all upside-down because of where your head is, and you can hardly keep yourself from grinning.

"Hi, guys."


	39. Painful Loyalty

_Painful Loyalty_

"You're Okima?" Kurama asks. Or states. It wasn't so much a question as it was the statement of a fact.

"Uh-huh," you mumble, breathing heavily.

"Hiei... did you know?" Kurama's the one that talks again. He will be your interrogater this morning. Or evening. Or noontime. Whatever. "I don't see how you couldn't."

"I _knew_ I recognized that scar on your arm!" Yusuke says suddenly. Kurama glares at him, and he goes quiet.

"Yes, I knew," Hiei says at the same time you say, "No, he didn't know."

"Which of you is covering for the other one?"

"She is," Hiei says as the same time you say "He is".

"She'd be more likely to do that," Hiei points out.

"Agreed. Why did you go with her?"

"I didn't blame her for wanting to leave the team. I was merely keeping her safe until she changed her mind. And giving her a reason to avoid killing all of Spirit World."

You glare at Hiei, but when you do, you see that he's smirking a little more than he should be. Kurama gives him a scrutinizing glare as well.

"It was also fun committing crimes with the most powerful demon in existance." Hiei gives a little chuckle, and you can hardly bite back a laugh of your own, and even Kurama smiles to himself.

"What the hell did you two _do_?" Yusuke demands.

"Yeah, anything that's fun to Hiei should probably have killed more people." Kuwabara's scratching his head like a dumb monkey.

"Tell us what you did."

"Well, you were hunting for me, I figured you'd know that by now," you hum.

"The string of murders with the symbol thing... but all of them died in different ways... So we thought it was a cult or something..."

"Oh. No. I just happen to enjoy my variety, and I was fighting with all of them. I don't like the idea of killing anyone-"

You're interrupted by an abrupt noise, and Kuwabara falls down. The sound is of something sliding on the floor. You draw your dirk and run over to Kuwabara and throw him harder than you mean to against the wall, and you stab straight down at whatever's making the sound. You feel the resistance of its flesh on your blade, and the blood spurts up and hits you. You drag the blade harder, and the thing lashes around and Yusuke's leg suddenly develops two puncture wounds on his thigh, and he cries out in pain. You throw the knife right next to his leg, and it sticks into something invisible, but more blood spurts out, then the thing that's bleeding falls to the floor. You growl a little.

Kurama is already moving for Yusuke, and you tear off the sleeves of your shirt ((You didn't like them anyway)), and you throw them to Kurama to tie on Yusuke's wounds.

"Yusuke, have you been poisoned?"

"... My leg's going numb..."

"I'll take that as a yes."

You growl a little and start stalking on. "How many did you kill?"

"Ummmm... There're twelve, right?"

"Hiei and I killed the rat, rooster, tiger, and horse. We just dealt with the snake. The buffalo was the one that had the water trick, I assume he's dead."

"We dealt with the dog, the monkey, the goat, and the rabbit."

"Oh, how dangerous, what a combination."

"All at once, they caused us several problems."

"Ahhh. I see."

"Yeah."

"What's left?" Yusuke asks, sitting down and holding his leg.

"The pig and the dragon."

"Well, now there's only the dragon left. Who's good to fight?" you ask as you hear clanking and snorting coming down the hall.

"I'll take care of him," Kurama says simply. You look carefully at the creature down the hall. He looks like the pig-faced Uruk-Hai from the third Lord of the Rings. He's heavily armed and heavily armored. Kurama stands upright and draws his rose from his hair and turns it into his whip. You help Yusuke hobble back, then watch Kurama. Yusuke is really heavy, so you have to help him lean against the wall. You're just like a normal human, now, and you can't support yourself nearly as well without that strength that your muscles aren't used to not having. And Yusuke feels pretty damn heavy.

The rest of you watch Kurama dodge this creature's attacks easily, and cut through the armor. After a little while, it learns to hold Kurama still by catching the whip between the thorns, and throw its numerous axes at him. Until Kurama finally just cuts the pig in half.

"Okay. Kurama is potentially mortally wounded," you mumble as you pass your cloak to him to wrap around the wounds on his chest and abdomen and back. After you empty the pockets. "Yusuke's suffered a poisonous snakebite. Kuwabara's incompetant and hurt already, Hiei's in decent health, I'm weak as shit, and you have one to go, and Hiei's still got to accomplish whatever he's intended to accomplish.

Yusuke reaches into his pocket and passes you his communicator. You shove it in your own pocket and half carry him down the hall while Kuwabara helps Kurama walk along. Hiei's walking ahead of all of you.

The last person lands in front of Hiei. He looks like Seiryuu, to you, but that might have been because you couldn't see a straight line if it hit you in the face. He's also red. Fire dragon. You think.

Hiei throws his cloak back and draws his katana. You're too tired to watch the fight, you just keep a barrier up around all of the others. Kurama, about halfway through, faints, and Kuwabara slumps against the wall, and Yusuke eventually just leans against Kuwabara. Twice, something hits the wall of your barrier, but you ignore it.

You're alerted to the end of the fight when Hiei suddenly says your name.

"Kali! You have to take them back."

"Why?" You don't mean for your tones to sound so whiny, but they do.

"You would let them die?"

"No, but... I don't want to go back."

"That's your option. What you do is your choice. I'll be back there by tomorrow night, and if not, I won't be back at all."

Hiei starts to leave, but you call back for him.

"Hey!"

"What?"

You wish you didn't have to force the words out of your mouth. You wish, actually, that you could have just said it and gotten it done with. You hardly managed to make them more than a whisper, and your tongue tied itself in knots, and you can't say it for a second, until the knot goes away, and the words all tumble together. "In case you don't make it back, I think I should tell you. I think I'm in love with you." You don't even look to see his reaction, until you realize he's not gone, yet.

He doesn't say anything. He just stands for a second, looking stunned, and then he vanishes. You open the communicator and stare into it.

"Botan, they need a portal, and we need three stretchers, possibly four if I can't maintain consciousness."

"Good to have you back, Kali!"

"You suck," you growl as you close the communicator. You drag the others, one by one, through the portal onto the stretchers, and you help push them to the hospital.

"Where's Hiei?" Botan asks.

"I don't know."

"Why not?"

"I don't know," you mumble coldly, going up to your room and shoving your money and stuff into random places, and you crawl into your bed, somehow not welcoming at all the smell of yourself that surrounds you.

A slight creak sounds as someone opens your door.

"Kali...?" Botan. What she wants is beyond you.

"What."

"Kali, are you okay?"

"Go. Away."

"What's wrong?"

"Go. The fuck. Away."

You wish your head would quit throbbing with the unusual lack of energy. You also wish Botan would leave your goddamned room.

You hear your door close, but someone's still in it.

"I said _'LEAVE'_, Bo-" you start to shout, sitting up and whirling heatedly around, punching the bed. "You're not Botan. You leave, too," you bark again, turning back around and laying again on your bed.

Your mom sits on your bed next to you where you've flopped onto your stomach, and she starts scratching your head. No one could ever scratch your head like she does, you suddenly remember. She has, like, the most _perfect_ nails for headscratching.

"Hey, sweetheart..."

"Ggnngh?" you mumble in response, being lulled into helplessness by the allure of your maternal figure's headscratch. ((giggles I'm funny. has been awake too long for the time of day))

"Why'd you run away like that? You know we love you."

"All the more reason to torture me," you growl.

"I'm sorry, Honey, we thought you wouldn't mind..."

"I wouldn't have if you had asked."

"Well, we knew you would have said 'yes' if we had asked, so we just kinda skipped that step."

"Yeah, well, when I skipped a step in math in fourth grade, the result was an accidentally broken nose and two broken windows."

"And an emergency 911 call and a day for Ender to come and get you and take you to his school so you wouldn't almost kill anyone else."

"That was not my fault."

"You scared that poor kid into the wall and gave him a concussion!"

"That wasn't my fault," you grumble. "Besides, you're getting off topic."

"You started that."

"I was relating that because that's how you think."

She chuckles and hits that one magic spot near your ear and you can't help but slip into a weak state of euphoria. ((You know, humans have the spot that knock you on your back, too. On me, it's this spot where the bone of my skull sticks out, behind my ear. It's HEAVEN.))

"You're evil. Go away."

"Alright, sweetheart. But don't do that anymore, please? If you're gonna leave, you need to take over the world, first."

"Agreed. Out, before Ender has to drag your mutilated corpse out of here."

She leaves quickly, and you flop back onto your bed.


	40. Premature Return

Another short one. Bite me.

_Premature Return_

Even if you don't remember going to sleep, you remember waking up. Hiei's waiting on your balcony.

"Why am I back here?" you ask the air.

"They were dying," Hiei reports.

"So? I'd rather not help dying people who could very well want me as dead as they potentially would be."

"They don't want you dead. You're too strong an asset."

"Why would you care if anyone died anyway? You don't even bother to help any of us that often, you're always working on your own devices, for your own goddamned profit," you snap as you roll over.

He doesn't respond, he simply stands and looks wounded.

"If you will quit whining and being so ridiculously childish, you will realize that your abduction was for your own good, and you should stop holding that grudge. And I help much more than you're admitting," he finally barks.

"It was not, he should have asked! I'm fine with taking pain if I expect it or brought it on myself! But _no_. _Instead_, you _drug_ me and as good as _kidnap_ me and drag me to a _pit_ somewhere, and you _watch_ him _torture_ me. And _none_ of you _lift_ a fucking _finger_ to _help_. _After_ I _helped_ you and even _let_ myself as far as _depend_ on you. I've _never_ done that with _any_ of my partners, even out of _necessity_! What's _worse_ is that that _fucking_ _asshole_ hasn't expressed _any_ apology without the threat of pain. The fact that he would _do_ that to me at all hurts my fucking _feelings_, and you _all_ _knew_ it hurts my feelings and my trust, and _none_ of you is even _remotely__sorry_."

"What did you want me to do? I couldn't have done anything about it, I would have been stopped. I wasn't even supposed to find out because they thought I would go on a mad rampage to kill them all."

"All of us feel terribly about it, obviously," Kurama mumbles from the doorway. "Even Kuwabara has been sulking since you left, and Yusuke can't bring himself to look anyone in the face anymore without some sort of rage distracting him."

You look at him, and realize that he's staring hard at the floor. He's got his face turned toward Hiei, which makes it seem that Hiei's the one he's talking to.

"Kurama. Face me before I force you to."

He turns his face toward you, but his eyes are still on the floor.

"Eyes included."

At this, he opens his eyes fully and looks up at your face, and you see an ache in them that matches his face. He looks, even more than before, like a puppy who's been caught tearing up the toilet paper and got a good kick and a few foul names at an unappreciated volume.

"You look pathetic," you growl as you settle back into your bed. "Quit looking like that, I'll get you back soon enough."

"Why does this instill more worries than the idea of a betrayal on your behalf?"

"Because you _know_ something bad's going to happen."

"Oh. Yes, I suppose that would be a good reason."


	41. Revenge

_Revenge_

During your energy recovery, you work to remember each and every plot and plan you had to kill them all, but you change your mind about killing them for hurting you. After all, dying is a lot better than living through the pain of severe electric shock until it stops hurting.

You spend a lot of time leaning over a desk in your room with a knife in one hand, etching something into the wood and finish after you recover. You haven't spoken to any of the others since they stopped talking to you. Hiei comes in and out now and again, usually whining about delivering your food, but sitting around your room anyway, watching you etch your plans into the desk.

A knock on the door and a slight creak lets you know that Kurama's come in. "Kali, who else have you taken revenge on, so far?" Kurama asks. He already knows what you've done to him. You've defiled his garden. Not beyond repair, but he certainly will have to spend a few days cutting the weeds down to below seven feet tall, and planting all the flowers back into their original places, you hope. You were very proud of the job you did, planting all the purple flowers into "FU Q" in English so only he would get it, and his mother wouldn't, hopefully. You also defiled his Spirit World bedroom beyond recognition. Or reparation, possibly. Hopefully. While you don't use the power much, you have the same ability to manipulate plants, and you've gotten all of his plants to the point where they won't listen to anyone but you, because of the dependancy on your particular signature you accidentally implanted when you fed them so much. It really was an accident. A very fortunate one, but an accident, nonetheless. You still might decide to act like it was intentional.

"Ummm... Lemme think... For Ender- I took down all the "wallpaper" in his room, hid and/or burned all his stupid magazines, removed the tabs for his dresser drawers, broke every zipper on every coat he owns, and defiled his bike helmet and his favorite bike jacket." You have to pause and grin at your creativity. You wrote "Fuck my ass and call me your bitch" on the back of his favorite coat, really big, right on the back in white paint. And on his bike helmet, you have written "My little sister kicks my ass" a few times, "Momma's boy", and "Satan's Footstool" is the biggest, all written in screwdriver.

Kurama waits patiently for you to get over your proud moment before you continue. "Mom's been trapped in her room for three days and has yet to figure out how to get out. Simple enough, though, all she's gotta do is break the window. And when she does, she's gonna find out that I've made quite a mess in the kitchen with all the pots and pans she likes, and I've moved my own stash into my room. Candle wax makes quite a mess on cooking utilities. Koenma's still awaiting his punishment. He knows I'm gonna get him back, though. He's just gotta figure out how. Hiei's not catching any shit, because I don't think he was involved, and even if he was, he was sweet enough to help me. I was planning on killing your flowers, but you helped me, too, when I was sick, so I took it easy and just had them attempt to eat you every few hours. Yusuke didn't have anything to do with it, either, did he? He helped me while I was sick, too, I owe him."

"He was not so easily bought over when we were asked," Kurama confirms.

"Right. So... who does that leave?"

"No one."

"You're lying. It would have taken more than four people to bring me down like that," you say, looking up at him, at his face. His eyes still look wounded, and his mouth is pursed in such a way that makes you think he's trying to hold back an apology. He must still be sorry for it. No surprise, that was some bullshit he pulled, poisoning you like that.

"You're not lying," you say, grumbling. "All it took was a little bit of a drug. Damn. I wish I wasn't so easy to trick like that."

"If it comforts you, it took us ten hours to make that poison, and Koenma didn't come up with the plan, Ender did. He knows you very well. And the poison was difficult to make, even with me helping. We had nothing but the records of the people that... studied you the first time. We're sorry."

"Was Koenma-"

"No, he was not told to, to my knowledge. I may be wrong. He said he was, but he was lying out of fear."

"What was he afraid of?"

"Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei. I would have helped, but it is out of my nature to take revenge in my own hands when I already suspect that he will be getting what's coming."

You smile. "Thank you. I hope you're not wrong about who helped stab me in the back. I'd hate to find out," you say as you etch more patterns into the table. It's a sketch of Koenma's office. Only the surface all his seats and things are on is labeled "ceiling". And you also have squiggles growing out of the wall labeled "evil", and then the door is labeled "ouch", and a picture of a key is off to the side, labeled "soft".

"Oh, dear. What are you plotting?"

"You don't want to know," you say with a maniacal grin.

"KALI!"

The shriek would have woken you up, had you been asleep. But you'd just laid down and settled into bed, having fled as Koenma reached his office.

"Yes?" you manage to croak, hardly attempting to hide your smile as you drag your feet downstairs.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

"I put your shit on the ceiling. Duh. Also, some of Kurama's man-eating plants are growing out of the walls, and, uh, your key should stop working properly in a few minutes if it hasn't already, and... Damn, I did something else, but..."

As soon as you stop talking, Koenma gets panicked and grabs the doorknob, and you grin as he screams in pain and has to let go.

"Oh, yeah." You giggle.

Koenma is in teenaged form again, and he gets really close to your very tired face.

"FIX IT!"

"After that bullshit? Fuck you, man. It's not commin' down for at least a week. Hopefully, you'll be under the desk, if you can manage to get the door open or get that key to work. Or if the plants don't kill you. And that knife is still in my back, you forgot it."

"TAMIKO--"

At the sound of your birthname, you can't stop yourself, and you grab his shirt collar and push him into the wall behind him, picking him up. You don't mean to, you had little control of yourself as soon as the bastard got to the "A" sound.

"Call me that again, I swear to you, you won't wake up 'til after your stuff goes back to normal and hell closes," you say. "And when you do wake up, you'll wish you hadn't, because that reflection is not going to be the same boy you see now." You point at a mirror. "You see, half of your teeth'll be missing, and the rest'll be broken, one eye will have been removed because they couldn't get it back in one peice enough to put in the socket, and your nose.. you see your nose? That nose will be broken off, but you'll STILL be smelling shit because I've shoved your nose up your ass. When you cough, you'll be spitting out another vertabrae, too, because your coxxyx wound up somewhere between your shoulderblades, because they were afraid to perform comatose surgery on someone whose brain they had to remove half of to even get CLOSE to hoping for life!" You have no trouble spitting everything out- it slides out with little thought behind the words. The rage and hate built up in you has taken over.

He winces for a minute. "You won't do it..." he finally says.

"YOU BETRAYED ME, AS GOOD AS TORTURED ME, AND BROKE THE ONLY RULE I'VE EVER ESTABLISHED! I HAVE NO REASON TO SPARE YOUR LIFE! YOU WANNA BET I WON'T DO IT!?" you shriek, pounding him into the wall.

"I'll fire you and send you to prison."

"I know more than one boy here who'll kill you for that. Not to mention that you'll have to figure out how to speak without teeth, first. And _then_ the boys will have to catch me and manage to get me without drugging me."

His breathing becomes less steady, and you can see sweat forming on his forehead.

"People are trying to sleep," Hiei says from behind you.

You let go of Koenma, growling again and throw him hard against the wall, breathing uneasily as you turn to face Hiei.

"I'm sorry," you whisper to Hiei.

"You damn well should be!" Koenma begins to shout indignantly.

You decide that his screaming at you for something he deserved is the final straw and you turn and elbow him in the face, hopefully breaking his nose. "I was talking to Hiei. I am not sorry for you. I never will be, you bloody stupid prat. You deserve everything you get!"

You storm into the living room and choke back tears.

"I want my mother," you whisper quietly. "I want her back."

"I can hear you," Hiei states simply as he follows you into the room.

"I don't care. Hear me all you want. S'not like you care."

He doesn't say anything. You hear him sit down next to the window. Your breath begins to shake, and you can't manage to make it stop. A few tears spill from your eyes and hit the couch with quiet taps, but you stop it, now. Tears are easiest to stop.

"Fucker. Calling me by that name, stabbing me in the back like that... Lucky he's still alive. I should kill him. I should wring his neck."

"He only called you-"

"Say it, you're a dead man, that simple. No one can call me by that name but my mother. And you know he betrayed me."

"Your mother calls you ," he says, not bothering to disagree with the second argument.

"No. Mom calls me . That's what she named me when she adopted me. I wouldn't let them call me by my other name, either."

"Hn."

"Bastard."

"Hn."

"Glad you agree," you growl, stretching out on the couch and glaring at the dark of the wall. "Fucking..."

Hiei makes a derisive noise and walks over to you. You charge up your hand and catch the blade as it comes down on you, then, out of habit, rotate on the couch enough to get your foot on his ribs, and then keep going, rotate more, and catch his waist and force him to the ground when you hook your other leg behind his ankles.

"I didn't do anything to you, Hiei. You've no reason to strike me. What is this, revenge for the people I've hurt? 've already done solitary confinement for that, until I learned to control my grief."

"I was making sure that your emotions didn't upset your combat." He says that, but you know that something's wrong with him, too. There is a tug on his lips going down, and his eyes are softer than before.

"They heighten my combat," you grumble, not pointing out his weakness to him.

"They heighten your energy."

"Which, in turn, makes me a better fighter. I'm shit without my energy. You know that."

A silence passes between you. You stretch out on the couch, longer than before, and press your face to the couch cushions.

"Why do you let this bother you?"

"I knew her longer than you knew your mother. You still love your mother, don't you? Well, I still love mine. I still miss her, and I want to see her. I think I know why I went up for adoption. She didn't have the power to keep me safe. I can be diluded into thinking my power doesn't exist, but I can't hide how much I have when I know how much I have. God, I want my mother."

Hiei is silent. You wonder if you've upset him, and you're afraid you have, so you close your mouth and are quiet. He never did anything to you. He didn't hurt you at all. You shouldn't be lashing out at him. So a silence passes between you.

Until Hiei takes a slight breath in to speak, and waits a second, before he finally spits it out.

"Would you really let yourself die for us?"

"What? What the hell are you talking about?"

"When Koenma made you hallucinate, I saw the vision that he planted. I had tapped into your mind, you just didn't feel it because of what the... drugs were doing. You, easily, without hesitation, and with no acknowledgement of fear, let yourself die for the four of us. You were weak and human, you had no chance of getting free, and so weak that the pain would only have been incredible."

"Better for Spirit World," you answer. "With me weak like that, it was better to lose me than to lose you four." Even you wonder why you lie like that. You told him earlier that you love him.

"Hn," he answers.

"Wouldn't you do it?" you ask, narrowing your eyes.

"Foolish actions. Of course I wouldn't. I'd kill him, and if I were so weak as that, I would let myself be killed for the shame."

"And if there was no chance for you to kill him, but you're not so weak as that?"

"Hn. Baka onna, I would save myself," he answers.

You don't know why, but you're positive that he's lying his ass off.

Koenma finds you both sitting on different furnitures staring out the window at the sunrise. He winces a little when he finds you, but when asked why, he doesn't say anything, he just shakes his head and retreats to the kitchen. He was probably going to apologize and make you get the furniture off the ceiling, but realized that you are not in the mood to deal with any bullshit.

After a bit more silence, you finally rise and go into the kitchen and sit.

"Why are you up so early? I've not known you to wake before noon," Botan says, poking at some bacon. "Not without necessity."

"I turned Koenma's office upside down, excluding gravity. So he can't get at his stuff. And he will probably have to get Kurama in there to keep the plants I put in there from killing him. And that key isn't going to work long. And he screamed, and he called me by the wrong name and I was too upset to go back to bed."

"What did he call you?"

"I won't tell you what the name is, but it's the name my birth mother called me by, and until I have her back, no one else can call me by that name," you say plainly. "Koenma has known me since I was three, he knows that rule."

She nods slowly, and pokes at the bacon some more.

"You want some?"

"Sure," you say. You leave the room and go back to the living room and stretch out on the couch.


	42. Friends, Now

_Friends, Now_

You're sitting on your couch at home with your school shit in your lap, working through the problems easily, finishing the pages one at a time, unfortunately. You've invited Yusuke over for dinner, tonight, but you suspect he will bring his friends because he's afraid of any wrath you might visit upon him. So it's no surprise when you hear them all at your door, though two of them are being almost totally silent.

"Come on, Hiei, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Yusuke," you call through the door as you kick yourself on your feet and go into the kitchen to start preparing dinner.

"Kali! How'd you know he brought the rest of us?" Kuwabara asks dumbly.

"You're a clumsy oaf, and you were making enough noise for the other two that I figured out they were here, too," you say without missing a beat and continuing to get everything down. "Ender's in his room, he needs help re-papering it, and will probably want to borrow some of those, Yusuke," you say, pointing at the bag with pornography magazines in it. "And Kurama, you can help me cook, or you can go talk to my mom through the door and probably rescue her sanity."

"I think I shall go speak with your, eh, mom, until it is time to eat."

"Don't try to open the door. You'll hurt yourself," you warn. Hiei sits down on the counter, until you knock him off.

"Boots off the counter, got it?" you sing, narrowing your eyes, playfully. He takes them off with little argument, though he does "hn" condescendingly, then hops back up onto it.

"There," you say simply, beginning to mix the waffle mix.

You smile a little bit and start to sing as you work. As of now, it's "Anywhere", from Evanescence ((I like all sorts of music unless you count Avril, and if there are any Evanescence haters out there, kiss my ass, this is MY quiz/story.))

Hiei listens silently. He never says anything. Not a surprise, but the silence when you're not singing is unnerving.

You look at Hiei and realize how much like a child he can look, if you catch him at the right angle. Most of the time, when you're looking down at him from any angle, he looks rather frightening. In fact, he looks frightening a whole lot. But at his current angle, and position, he looks... almost fragile.

Then he sees you staring at him, and you turn your head smoothly, trying to hide that you're turning mildly pink.

After a little time, you hear Kurama make a small noise that sounds like a frightened mouse.

"Hn," Hiei says, startling you. "When are you letting her out of there?"

After you take a minute to realize that he's talking about your mother, you smirk and laugh a little. "Oh, I'm not. She'll have to figure it out all on her onesie," you joke, smiling cheerfully.

"I see," he says.

"Trick is easy, the problem is that she refuses to do it until she begins to starve. She has her own bathroom, which is why she's not dehydrating."

Yusuke walks into the kitchen. "Kali, just so you know, I had nothing to do with the whole poisoning you idea. Please don't take any vengeance on me?"

"I'm not. Keep bothering me, though, and I'm not feeding you," you say sharply, pouring more waffle mix into the iron. You don't mean it, but you'd rather just forget about it for a minute. Everything seems fine in the house, except for the odd tensity that's haunting your teammates and family.

You hear naught but silence after he leaves, and you feel the need to go to humming quietly.

Getting them to eat is a little difficult. Even Kuwabara and Yusuke don't seem to want to eat at first, looking at it as if they expect it to attack them. You finally growl and get up and cut off wedges of Yusuke's and Kuwabara's foods, and eat them. "Jeez. The only one I poisoned is Ender, and that's because he has it coming."

You've not poisoned Ender, but you have slipped a little extra something into Kurama's plate, just enough to make him sick to his stomach for an hour or so, which is what you would have suffered from the poison in your tea, excluding what was injected.

After they start eating, you begin to regret feeding them at all. Especially the humans. They have the table manners of... well... hell... nothing's got so much indecency that their manners are as bad. Satan her/himself probably has more manners than this.

"Vish ish freely koot!" Yusuke says through stuffed cheeks.

"How the hell would you know? You haven't had any in your mouth long enough to taste it!" you complain. "Go eat outside! Now!" You bean one of them with an extra spoon. They both flee, though Yusuke has a spoon stuck in his hair. The rest of you continue eating like decent sentient not-so-human-beings.

"How the hell can you stand those idiots?"

"No choice," Hiei says simply between bites.

"I don't mind them. Their antics are amusing, at times," Kurama answers.

"At times. I was trying to eat, and they were making me too sick to do it. And I've dismembered people before."

Ender laughs slightly.

"Go ahead, laugh. My ill mood is fading, the more I get to take it out on the detective and his pet," you say simply, giggling a little more.

Ender allows himself to laugh a little more heartily, and you start to clean up, before sticking your head outside, not surprised to see that Yusuke and Kuwabara are fighting over something. Sausage link, you think. ((Think about that symbolism? Oh, I'm nasty.))

"Boys, stop fighting, or I'll get pissed and make you clean up, rather than do it myself," you bark. "Half it."

They look at you like puppies and nod. You go inside and continue cleaning up, humming a little more to yourself and singing every once in a while, when it's low enough to do so quietly. You don't realize everyone else is watching you, except Ender. You eventually start dancing lightly on your toes, though the "dance" is basically stepping in time with the songs you're humming as you cross the room.

"Cheerful little twit, inshee?" Yusuke grumbles as he comes inside, bearing his plate as a gift.

"Only when she feels like it," you answer, hitting Yusuke in the head with his plate as you take it from him, and you go back to scrubbing the dishes, still humming.

"I think it's the fact that everyone that hurt her lately is miserable," Ender says.

"Don't stare at me when I dance, guys," you mention idly, now finished with the dishes. You skip to the next room. The others follow you.

"Come on, boys, we're going to play video games, now!"


	43. Confession

_Confession_

The next week, you're eating breakfast at Koenma's again, having stayed out since your stupid brother locked the door before he went out partying, and you didn't feel like going back home without necessity after you got to a room you could sleep in. You're staring at your food, poking at it occasionally, when Yusuke staggers in, wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans. He's still barefoot, you guess, 'cos his feet make this funny slapping noise when he walks. You've been having a rough couple of days. You keep thinking about Hiei, and how nice he's been to you, and about how the two of you have taken care of each other, and everything reminds you of him and you just can't imagine what it would be like if he weren't around, even if he is attempting to keep his distance. Ever since you went to the Makai, he's tried to stay away from you.

You stab at your eggs blankly as you think to yourself.

"Mornin'" you hear. You look up at Yusuke, but your eyes are half-shut and your mouth is open and you're sure that he can tell that you're not fully there, yet. Which is fine, 'cos he looks the same way.

You don't eat. You just stab your breakfast with your fork. He's beginning to notice 'cos he's had his coffees for the morning.

"Kali, are you okay?"

"Nani?" you inquire, looking at him with the deadish look in your face.

"Are you okay?"

"... Not a morning person doesn't begin to describe it," you finally say, letting your head fall against the table.

"Ah."

You go into the living room and collapse onto the couch and make a small, slightly distressed noise.

Yusuke walks up and grabs the playstation two controller and turns the machine on, then throws the second controller at you.

"What the hell?" you demand.

"Tekken. I'm bored."

"Ooookay."

He kicks your ass. He INVERTS your ass. And you can't do anything about it. But mostly because you're distracted.

"Okay. Enough of this," he says, dropping the controller and walking away. You settle back in your chair, thinking about Him again.

"Hello. Whatchya readin'?" you ask Kurama after you snap out of it.

He shows you the cover of _Macbeth_ and smiles slightly. You nod and settle in your seat.

"Kali, do you mind telling me something?"

"Hm?"

"What's 'Tamiko' mean?"

"Child of the people. Who told you?"

"Ah. How appropriate. I overheard you and Koenma when you were fighting, after you destroyed his office." he mutters, going back to his book. You smirk, and leave, probably to go see Hiei. No plans, but you've only been thinking about him _all day_.

You hear Kurama following you a little while, until you sit down next to Hiei's door and wait for his mind to enter yours, hesitant though it is.

[Hello, Hiei.

[What do you want?

[Lots of things.

[What do you want from me?

[To know for certain if you like me at all.

[Go away.

[No.

[Leave me alone!

[No.

He opens the door, surprising you. You don't manage to show your surprise, but you do stare at him. He looks hard at you.

"Why are you here?"

"I told you already," you say. He growls and draws his katana and holds it at his side.

"Leave me alone."

"No."

He brings his sword up, then swings it down at you, but you roll onto your back and catch it between your palms, getting one of them badly cut. It hurts, but not enough to let go.

"What's wrong?" you ask. He's never refused to see you before. Or talk to you. Well, he has, but not this way, and enough persistance usually got through to him.

"Nothing is wrong," he lies, pulling his blade away. You don't look at your hand, yet. You just stare up at him, focusing on his face. It is blanker than normal, like he is trying to keep it that way.

"You're lying," you say.

"It isn't any of your business," he growls, starting to go back to his room. You feel the rage build up and crawl into your throat while it bubbles while the source of the boiling is in your gut.

"Yeah, that's right. Run back to you're little hole, hide away from everything, you fucking coward." You force your heart back into its normal place in your ribs, and you struggle to ignore the fear that seizes your stomach. It's not that you couldn't kill him if you wanted to. But the fact of the matter is that you don't think you _would_ kill him, even if you _needed_ to. You doubt that you could hurt a spiky-ass hair on his big head.

"What do you want?!" he almost shouts, his voice getting frighteningly dangerous. You keep your ground, as much as you want to back away. He sees the defiance and fear in your face, you're sure, but he swings his blade down at you again. You don't have time to catch it, so you throw your arm up defensively, hoping it won't hurt too badly. It stops as it bites into your arm, chewing at the flesh. You close your eyes, until you realize that he's not going to kill you, an d you look back up at him.

"What do you want?" he repeats, quieter, but still sounding deadly.

You want to say something intelligent, or not-quite-truthful but enough of a hint. But you can't come up with anything to say. The blood on your arm is tickling, and there's sweat working down his jaw and your own, and you swear that you can see a tear building up in his eye, and you feel your nose burning and your eyes watering from the want to cry. You shut all this out and focus on making your voice work.

"You," you finally whisper. You hate to sound so pathetic, so weak. You hate to admit your desires at all, because you know desire is a bastard who loves to play its sadistic games, and to admit that you need something that you can't supply on your own is a painful admittance of weakness. But it felt very, very, very wrong and stupid to ignore it.

His mouth opens, and his eyes get a little wider, and you hear a soft, quick, exhalation of surprise. He looks shocked, even hurt or lost, only for an instant. You're sure that you are imagining all this, because in half a moment, he goes back to his blank stare, though you know you see pain in his face.

"You know," you answer, getting up as he pulls the blade away. Your arm is bleeding, and the tickle of blood traveling down your arm is hard to ignore. You almost run to the bathroom down the hall, but you resist the urge to weep, just barely, and start cleaning off the cuts.

Kurama knocks on the open door and comes in and stands at the doorway, looking at you.

"Are you alright?"

"No. No, I'm not," you say. You hate to admit it, but you hate lying even more.

"Do you want help?"

"No, but I imagine I'll need it in a little while. Something's wrong with my pulse, and all my senses are working on overdrive."

"What happened?"

You, not wanting to lie, don't answer. You just preoccupy yourself with wrapping the bandage around your arm where the second cut is.

"What's wrong with your pulse?"

"'ell if I know," you say quietly, putting your fingers to the spot in your neck, still being unable to feel your heartbeat, dull though it was to begin with.

"You should get used to it. Koenma warned us that emotional duress would wake you up, little by little, but I don't think he knew that it would be brought on by Hiei."

"I really wish you'd speak English. I also wish that Koenma would tell me as much about me as he tells you guys. Now. What?"

"Emotional stress induces changes in you, and you are becoming a demon."

"I am a demon."

"You've always seemed human, probably a defense mechanism of some sort-"

"Kali! Come in here!" Yusuke calls, interrupting Kurama. Not that you care. You wanted to punch him in the mouth for talking too much anyway.

"Gimme a minute!" you answer, ignoring the Kitsune's sputtering.

When you get down the stairs, Yusuke starts to laugh, and Kuwabara tries to keep from doing so. "You look like shorty!" Kuwabara says as he finally gives up on the avoidance of laughing like a maniac. You look at the wraps on your arms, then at him.

"Maybe I should beat the hell out of you like he does, then?" you suggest, quirking an eyebrow. He goes instantly quiet. "What do you want?" you ask, narrowing your eyes at Yusuke. He hands you a cup with a mildly purple liquid. You look carefully at it, then look at them carefully. "What is it?"

"Mixed drink. We've been tryin' to make this shit taste better so you might drink it and get drunk with us, again," he answers. "Since Kurama said he didn't want to open any more wines, and we ran out of your... what'd you have? Smirnoff, or Bacardi or what?

You pretend to taste it, but the boys don't explode with laughter, so you trust it and take a sip. It's not nearly tangy enough, you decide, and you go to the kitchen and look through, finding some lime juice and adding it.

"There," you say, handing it back. Yusuke tastes it and shakes his head.

"I don't know how you can not like beer."

"Oh. It tastes like shit." You grin fakely and stalk off to go sit down outside. Yusuke, after a few moments, joins you.

"S'matter?"

"Nothing," you lie.

"Liar," he says. "Can't bullshit a bullshitter." You laugh.

"What's funny?"

"Damn straight, you can't bullshit a bullshitter," you answer.

A comfortable silence passes between you, but then he sighs slightly and pats your not-wounded arm.

"I gotchyer back," he says.

"That's a damn shame. You'd better get away from it, I get paranoid when people are behind me." You get up and go upstairs to your room and you turn out all the lights and start some music at an incredible, ear-splitting volume, and you stare out the window as the sun dies. You want Hiei. And you're not sure if he wants you, but you can hope. But even if he does, he'll never show it, and you won't be able to, either. You know better, and he does, too, and both of you know that both of you are scared shitless at the very idea.

You lock your door and sit on the window sill, keeping the curtains closed to keep the light out of your closed eyes, and you start to dream.

[You know I love you, don't you? Hiei's voice asks.

[No, you answer.

[I do.

[Oh. Well. Shit.

[What's wrong?

[I can't have you.

[I can't have you, either.

[What a cute couple.

[...Sleep.

[Yeah. Okay.

After a while, you wake up and look out the window, but then something grabs your arm and pulls you through the glass, and you fall to the ground, landing there, unable to see or think clearly. "Oh... god... my head..."

"Actually... We're more interested in your blood," a voice answers.

You wake up on your window sill, jumping up and charging your fists and feet up, screaming in fear.


	44. Confirmation of a Dream

_Confirmation of a Dream_

You're kicking the shit out of a punching bag, enjoying more and more the way it bobs and weaves. Everyone else is watching you. Well, 'cept Hiei, but he's eating, and he doesn't count. He hasn't spoken to you in the three days since you told him how you felt.

"Yusuke, you realize how much like Hiei and yourself she is, don't you?" Kurama says at a volume he must assume you can't hear. Or at one he knows you can.

"Huh?"

"It's like you and Hiei raised a kid," Kuwabara says, understanding.

Yusuke pauses, then moans. "Thanks for that image, Kuwabara. What the fuck do you mean?"

You walk over and wave at them, startling them out of their conversation. "Yusuke, your idiocy has so far ceased to amaze me," you say with a slight chuckle. You sound a lot darker than normal, being in a terrible mood and just wanting to start a fight. "Do keep it up, some of us need reasons to laugh more often."

Yusuke nods, now understanding what they were talking about when you used Hiei's words and tones, when he's so used to hearing his words with Hiei's tones, as you walk past and go to the weight-training things to remind yourself why you don't bother with them anymore. "Oh. I get it," he mumbles, blushing. And then he turns away and starts stalking off for what seems like no reason, until you realize that Hiei's coming down the hall, and Yusuke probably doesn't want to hold this conversation near him.

Hiei approaches calmly, watching Yusuke pass. "What's upset the detective so much? Did he finally recognize the extent of his stupidity?"

"Close. More of a sudden bout of mental activity," Kurama answers with his special little smile.

You smirk at the remark.

Kuwabara makes a face and cringes slightly. "I didn't even really notice it, before. Not this much. She even moves like 'em."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd suggest she were a sister to one or both of them."

"That's gross," Kuwabara says simply. He's lowered his voice again, probably not wanting you to hear again, but failing to get quiet enough. "Yusuke's hot for her."

"Oh? Him, too? I knew that Hiei... likes her."

"He does? _Why_??"

"I guess it's her own stubbornness and independence, along with her respect for him. She lets him have his space, but he knows he has her support, if he should fall. Not that he will, but just in case," he says with a gentle smile. "Or, perhaps, he's simply comfortable with her. She's made more of an attempt to get close to him than I have, but she's got more room to do so, though, because she's more like him and understands."

Hiei, who was standing right in front of him the whole time, tightens his fist with every word. "Do you think neither of us can hear you, Fox? Because I'm beginning to suspect that I will have to make good on the threat of tearing out your voice box."

You stop bothering with the utterly useless weight training and stand up. "Hey... guys? I keep hearing 'her' and 'she' over there- not much else, but you don't know many girls- am I involved in the conversation?"

"No, I'm sorry."

**Kurama**

She walks slowly towards the hallway out of the room, giving you the eye because she knows you were lying. Kuwabara watches her rump as you walk past them and go outside. Hiei punches him in the head with a flicker of movement.

"Kuwabara, if you even think about it, Yukina will hear about it," Yusuke growls, narrowing his eyes as he returns.

Hiei, however, is watching her, and Yusuke is watching Hiei.

"Are we gonna fight for her, or what?"

Hiei makes a face and leaves, not saying anything.

**You**

You see Hiei jump into a tree and get comfortable. You watch him, and then walk up to the tree. "I can act like I didn't hear anything, like I've been doing," you offer, standing back, waiting for him to get pissed off and jump down and kill your face off.

He does drop down, but he doesn't have his katana out, as you expect him to. He stands in front of you, looking up at your face. You look at him, but you are studying his eyes, which are painfully blank.

"Pointless," he finally mutters. He reaches out to touch you, but you step back and he stops. You don't know why that hurt so much, but you feel like crying. You sigh, calming yourself.

"It only goes as far as you take it, because I won't do anything... But... You won't do anything. So we're at a standstill."

You turn on your toes and start going inside.

Yusuke and Kurama are in a room neighboring the one you've decided to sit in. You hear Kurama sigh.

"Tchyou sighin' for?" Yusuke growls.

"This is very complicated. I am sure that she knows, and probably has known for a long time. But now he knows she knows, and they will have to face what both of them have been avoiding. They are both afraid to show any affection, but they don't know what else to do, now, because they can't ignore it. Especially not her."

You don't know why, but you get very pissed off at Kurama for judging you. You get up, storm into the room, grab his collar and pick him up, hardly caring anymore. You won't hurt him, but you want nothing more than to scare the shit out of him enough that he will leave you alone.

"Stop _reading_ me!" you growl. You're about to shove him back into his chair, not planning on hurting him, but Yusuke grabs your arms and makes you let Kurama go and holds you back. You want to leave, but the hurt feelings and the rage in your throat and just the overall emotion...

"Calm down, please, Kali. Throwing a fit now is useless," Kurama says softly while you try to beat Yusuke away from you. He has a very good grip on you.

"Lemme go, Yusuke! I'm so tired of you judging me, Yusuke's not letting me move, and I'm already in a bad mood!" you shout, fighting Yusuke's grip. He shifts to a bear hug, pinning your arms to your sides.

"The more of a fit you throw, the less Hiei will think of you, behaving like a child and being so emotional because you didn't get your way."

"SHUT UP! I don't CARE anymore!" you scream. You almost manage to launch yourself at him, but Kuwabara grabs you, too, and keeps you from moving.

Something in you takes over, and you create claws that cut into your legs, and you tear at Yusuke's arms until he lets you go, and Kuwabara gets scared and lets you go before you can scratch him.

You don't attack anyone anymore, though. You pause for a second because of a sudden pain in your whole jaw and in your stomach. Yusuke tackles you again from behind, realizing that you're loose, and Kuwabara helps. Yusuke wraps his arm around your neck, and knocks you back on your back, with him under you, and he wraps his legs around yours, hoping to keep you pinned still.

"LEMME GO!" you scream, scratching him in the face and sides with your limited mobility.

He lets you go, and you flee, running as fast as you can.

**Kurama**

"Wow, she was pretty pissed," Kuwabara mutters, rubbing his head.

"I don't blame her," you say quietly. "Yusuke, are you okay?"

Hiei paces inside, arms crossed. "I heard her screaming. Detective, you're getting blood in the floor." And after a bit more looking around, he smirked. "And I suppose that she's made it obvious that she has my brutality, and Yusuke's idiocy, but she is still a girl."

Yusuke growls. "What the hell's wrong with you!? You're why she did all that, and all you can talk about is---!?" He cuts off his sentence and makes strange sputtering sounds, obviously having trouble spitting out what he meant to say.

"She did have enough reason to hurt us," you say simply. "I angered her even more than would have been wise. She was only going to threaten me, and then Yusuke tried to pin her, rather than calm her, and holding her so that she's defenseless was very stupid on our behalves."

Hiei smirks very slightly. You can see the pain in his face, but Yusuke can't. "I think you wound up lucky. I would have killed one of you," he says simply. Yusuke looks at the wounds on his chest, and puts his fingers gently to his face.

"Kuwabara, would you please escort Yusuke to the healers? He's bleeding quite profusely," you ask.

The other two leave the room, leaving you and Hiei.

"What did you say to her? Or do to her?"

"Nothing, if you'll believe it. She did all the talking herself. She knows I will not give her what she wants," he answers simply, "and she won't take it herself."

"How very insightful of her. Are you going to try anything?"

"It's stupid and pointless," Hiei answers bleakly. "Why was she so angry?"

"She was spurned by you, and then I went about speaking my part of my thoughts, and she became angry with me for reading her."

"I see. There is black blood on the floor. Who cut her?"

"None of us. Yusuke tried to pin her, and she manipulated her energy to form claws. I think that might have been it. She was in a bear hug for a little while. I imagine it cut her legs. I believe that she was transforming. I saw fangs grow."

You stand up. "I'm going to go check on her." Hiei stands up quickly, also.

"I'm faster. She may be hurt," he says, vanishing. You sit back down and put your head on your hand and scowl. This will not end well.

**You**

You'd found a very peaceful place on the edge of the Reikai, with several trees surrounding a lake or a pond. Not a clean one, but it was still serene and pleasant. The way the sun was setting over it was beautiful. So you sit in a tree, staring down over the water, holding your hand and trying to heal the bleeding holes in your leg. You've thrown up a few times, and you feel terrible. Your black blood is on the ground and so is most of everything you've eaten in the last three to fifteen years, excluding what you'd already thrown up at various other points in life. You think.

"Get away from me, Hiei," you growl as you hear him approaching. He stops short.

"You're bleeding. Badly."

"No shit!" you growl, shooting Spirit Gun shot at him. He barely manages to dodge.

"Are you alright?"

"Dumbassed, out of character question. Of course I'm not alright. I'm bleeding, my mouth hurts, my hands hurt, and the first and possibly only person I have ever dared to love won't let himself close to me."

"You're being stupid."

"FUCK YOU!" you roar. "GET AWAY FROM ME!"

He cringes, almost invisibly, and stands for a second. You feel his eyes on you, but none of the usual probing in your mind. You scream again. "I SAID GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" This time, he listens to you and vanishes. You begin to weep, staring at the water you're sitting over, and at your slightly different reflection. You know he's not gone as far away as you'd like, but he's left you alone, anyway, and that's what you want, now.

After a little while longer, the emotional pain and fear and hate and rage build up more and more, until you finally just shriek as loudly as possible, releasing the scream that had been forcing itself out of your chest since he cut you . You feel everything around you move as a sudden surge of energy flies from you. The water below you starts rippling violently, the trees bend and sway and break and burn, the ground below you gets a series of holes in it, and you finally stop, after the scream is satisfied, and you lay on the branch, so far unharmed, and you close your eyes, unintentionally falling asleep.


	45. General Confusion

_General Confusion_

Three weeks pass. Half moon, waxing. Insomnia and something like uncontrollable rage and sadness has been haunting your whole body.

Hiei and Kurama have been talking a whole lot, lately, mentally and aloud, always out of what they apparently think is your earshot. They've been talking about you. You know that they're talking about you. And him. You all can see the affections between you and Hiei, but none of you actually know what either of you is going to do.

You listen to them reluctantly, being two rooms away and complete silence all around you, curiosity and circumstances not allowing you to distract yourself.

"Hiei, why _won't_ you show her your feelings? You've seen her, she's been shutting herself off from everything she can at all times, she doesn't eat, she doesn't sleep much, and when she does sleep, she screams."

"She's been screaming in her sleep since Koenma tortured her. I don't see why I should show her anything, anyway. She won't, either."

"Only because you won't."

"Idiot, neither she nor I stand any chance in any sort of relationship. You should be able to see that."

"You consider all of us friends, don't you? You made it that far, didn't you? Why not take a step farther?"

"Neither of us will do anything, Fox. Even if I did, she would shun me, and if she did anything, I would shun her."

_We're both cowards. We can deal with physical pain. Any of it. But any risk of emotional pain is immediately dealt with in the only way he and I know how..._ you think as you listen. _Too much pain._

Yusuke walks into the room, shutting out what Kurama says next. You glare at him. He goes and sits next to you.

"I won't, you idiot, and there is nothing that will change that."

"You don't realize the damage you're doing to her and yourself."

"I do, but you don't realize the damage that would be done if either of us did anything. Neither of us should even exist."

"Exactly. Both of you are Forbidden Children. She has to be, several times over! Neither should exist, and the only reason either of you is even alive is because of a fortitude that can only be offered through fate."

"Or survivalism. We're not meant to share our powers, or our lives. The ends of the existing worlds shouldn't come so soon. The instant I die, she would probably go into a permanent loss of control if she thought I cared for her, too. That forest has yet to recover, and that was just a bit of emotional stress. I would hate to see what would happen if she lost someone important to her."

"Hiei... You don't know that..."

"I do know that. You saw what happened when I spurned her. She is not a normal girl, Kurama, and those are dangerous feelings, even if she's not truly in love with me. For the sake of the worlds, she can't know."

You're so intent on listening that you don't hear Yusuke walk in.

"What're they talking about?" Yusuke asks. You put a finger up to your lips, and then draw it across your throat to gesture, "shut up before I kill you".

"Since when do you care about the sake of the worlds?"

"I live in them, and I prefer for it to stay that way."

"Hiei, she could never harm you. You know you always feel you need a sense of purpose, protecting her will offer that comfort!"

"I was unaware that the most powerful demon in current existence needed help."

Your ears start ringing, and you can't hear any of them anymore, and you get to your feet and you go through the portal to your house, and you go out and immediately start walking down the street, trying to ignore the glares the members of the general public are giving you, until you break into a run, until you find your tracks and you start running down those, along the track-rails.

You wind up at a small bridge over a creek, and you sit on the tracks, staring out over the creek, burying yourself in the songs you're singing, imagining various images to go with the music. Over and over and over, your thoughts keep drifting back to Hiei, and you have to shut them out and start again, and you have to shut him back out and start again, until, eventually, you give up and your eyes leak tears again, and your whole body trembles as your breath becomes uneasy, and you have to pray that you won't do anything stupid.

Hiei drops out of the sky at you, wielding his katana.

"Why do you keep talking to Kurama! He hasn't stopped defending your case since…."

"Since you cut me," you answer coldly. "I don't get it, either, I haven't spoken to him."

"You're lying!" he shouts, swinging his sword at you. You block it out of instinct. You don't attack, though.

"It's not my fault he's rubbing your feelings—" you mutter as you receive a painful cut to the lower thigh, "—in your face."

You block three more attacks, then start to feel a rage bubble in you.

"Does it hurt you that much to love, Hiei?" you ask as you catch his blade on your guarded arm and lunge at him. He pulls back, but now that you've got him on the defensive, you decide you like him better that way. You attack again and again, hoping he won't answer.

"It's not that it hurts now," he answers. You doubt it was meant to slip out of his mouth, even for his own ears alone. You stare down at him and nearly get stabbed in the stomach. You jump onto the sword and kick his wrist, making him let go. You balance on the tip until it falls to the ground.

"You're afraid, then?"

"Of course not. I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Prove it. Please. I don't like being tortured; it's not fair, what you're doing to me."

"Then you stop, and we can call it quits," he barks as he vanishes.

You sit heavily on your ass and try to hum, but all that comes out is "hm..." that sounds a lot like Hiei's "hn"'s. You give up and go home and try to sleep.


	46. A Visit

_A Visit_

You haven't spoken to Hiei in nearly… however long it's been. You're not sure. You've been at your house. No one's had anything for you to do. They keep attempting to get you and Hiei on a mission together, but both of you seem to have been avoiding the other since that day. According to Ender, it's been two weeks since you've even set foot at Spirit World, but you've hardly noticed. You just wish you could get Hiei out of your head. It's like he's burrowed into the meat in the back of your head and likes to stab through every tenth of a second to piss you off.

You're sitting/laying on your couch, one leg propped on the coffee table, and the other on the arm of the couch you're not leaning on, staring at the wall. It's been two days since you slept off your depression, and you're not too eager to go back to work. No one's in, currently. You dunno where they went, 'cos you were asleep until noon, and no one was here, then, either.

"Can I come in?" a voice calls from the room containing the portal. Sounds like Kurama, but you can't tell, but no one else would bother to ask if they could come in.

"Sure," you answer, looking at the door in the back to see the green-eyed red-head walk toward you. You don't get up.

"I'm sorry I'm being a lousy hostess, but I've been incredibly lazy, and there's no way that's changing for someone as forgiving as you," you say. You then point to the recliner your mother often sits in. "You can sit there. Or there, or there," you add, pointing to the window seats and in the floor. And you're taking up the whole couch, but you move the leg on the arm of the chair and curl it near your body. "Or there."

He nods slightly and sits down on the now-available cushion on the couch. You look at him a little funny, but he's looking at you, so you look away after a little bit.

"Whatdjyou come here for?" you ask.

"To see you, of course."

"An odd act of friendliness toward me. You're usually not so kind," you say. Aga creeps down the hall, sliding up the coffee table and over your leg to you, then over to Kurama. He picks her up and looks into her face. She flicks her tongue out at him.

"What do you mean?" he asks.

"You usually leave me alone. I have to talk to you."

"Well, I have something to say, this time. Or ask, in any case."

You look hard at the redhead and narrow your eyes. He smiles slightly at you, in his own fashion.

"You and Hiei..." he started, then paused, to see your reaction.

"What about us?" Almost instantly, your defense goes up, and you don't want to talk to him anymore.

"You have... you have an odd... friendship, don't you?"

"No, not really."

"You feel for him, don't you?"

"You know the answer to that. Why are you here?"

"I thought I'd tell you something. He's not come out of his room since you left our company."

"So?"

"It's odd. He would, in most cases, be around, conducting or participating in various acts of criminality. I don't think he's eating, either."

"So?"

"He's in love with you, too."

"What the _hell_ makes you think that? If he gives two shits about me, then why the hell did he attack me? Why the fuck does it matter, anyway!? Both of us have shut out our feelings, and neither of us will turn them back on so we can participate in the most futile act of idiocy in existence!"

"He attacked you to make you go away. Something that both you and Hiei seem to fear is affection for or from anyone, and when you do feel affection, you try to ignore it by acting opposite the way that it would have you act, or by protecting that person with your lives. And, oddly enough, both of you are doing both of those. It matters because neither of you has been able to function since each found out about the others' feelings. Even if you deny that you feel them, they're still there."

"So what? Neither of us will do anything other than protect the other one so absurdly, and there's nothing that can be done about that."

"That may not be true. But we've heard you screaming in your sleep. I suggest you do something about those nightmares. It's frightening to all of us to hear you scream in the middle of the night."

"It's not my fault. 'coordin' to Hiei, I've been doing it since I was tortured by Koenma."

"We know. But we would like it if you'd somehow start muffling your screams. Like sleeping with something over your mouth if your nose permits it."

You grumble slightly. "Forgive me for screaming when someone's force-feeding me the only person I have ever loved this way. Especially their heart."

He looks at you, obviously horrified.

"What?"

"The only one of those nightmares I remember clearly, someone pulled Hiei's heart out and made me eat it. I could _taste_ it. I could taste it for a _week_, no matter what I ate," you say, crossing your arms. "And I'm sure that I've had worse. And start addressing the actual problems."

"You called his name before the torture…. And the screams have, for the most part, stopped. Sometimes they're a little closer to a groan."

"Got any other reports on my not-so-secret secrets?" you growl, glaring at him, wondering how much of his brain would get into the carpet if you took care to not crush it when you went to get the cleaning supplies.

"No more of your secrets. Hiei's, though. He whispers your name, too, in his sleep, and calls for you."

"Is that all you wanted to say?" you ask. You feel tears beginning to well in your eyes, and you feel the want to reach over and pound Kurama into an unrecognizable pulp before he sees you weeping for something besides guilt, but you don't start to weep, so you don't have an excuse to invert his stupid pretty face. You sit with your arms crossed and your legs in such a prone position that if you are attacked, you'll be killed in less than an instant. You find yourself hoping that someone has found out that Okima, Kiraa, or the mother of the future rulers of the Makai lives on the Ningenkai in Japan, and will run through the wall and stab your brains out.

"Are you alright?"

"No, Kurama, I'm not. When you feel the need to ask, I'm usually not. You should start assuming that and stop asking," you growl, shrinking into the couch and pointing at the speaker base and turning on some loud music, hopefully scaring Kurama away. He doesn't move, though. You don't look at him, anymore. You just focus on your growing fingernails, and you start wondering about sharpening and using them as weapons. Kurama reaches over and pats your arm, but you grab his arm and twist it. He pulls away after you loosen your grip enough and looks at you, then rises to his feet.

"Well, I'll leave you alone."

"Good," you lie. You don't want to be alone, but you don't want anyone to touch you. So you follow him through the portal and go to the training room.

The punching bag is beginning to rip slightly as you pound your fists and feet and knees and elbows into it over and over and over, you notice, and it's swinging heavily. You're pleased to see this. Your violent mood is getting slightly better as the bag's health is deteriorating, until it suddenly bursts, sending its innards all over the place, and getting all on you. You sit down and stare at the wall and the mess you're going to leave for someone else to clean up. Unless someone tells you to. So, before you get caught with it, you go back home and fight back your tears, wishing you could just kill it all.


	47. Abruptly Returning to Normal

_Abruptly Returning to Normal_

It takes another two weeks, but they figure out how to get you to talk again. They told you that you had to train him, and they told him that you were talking about how weak he is, and how easily you could beat him. You know full well you could have fixed it by warning him, but you want it to happen, so you don't.

It's nigh dusk. Sun's started to make its way down. The training field is lit with a dying orangish pink light. You can smell Hiei's scent on the air, and you can feel him approaching, and you know what's going on, but Hiei would pick a fight with you anyway, because Kurama was the one relaying the message that you were challenging his testicular fortitude, he'd know exactly what to say.

Hiei basically appears in front of you.

"Idiot. Did you think they wouldn't tell me what you've been saying?"

"Idiot. Didn't you realize they're trying to get us to talk to each other?" 

"What?"

"Fool."

"What did you call me?!"

"I called you a fool. Well deserved and earned."

"Be quiet, woman."

"Why don't you fuckin' make me?"

He answers by taking out his katana and holding it in one hand, completely on guard. Even his hair is bristling.

You smirk and duck into a fighting stance. You smile a little more and swing an arm, letting a blade of energy extend from your wrist, mainly for defense.

Neither of the two of you attack, both waiting for the other to go first. So you decide to speed things up a bit, instead of waiting for him to get impatient, and you dart forward. You don't mean to attack, but he will attack you, fighting defensively. You get to him, and he holds his katana up, then jumps out of sight. You hear him land behind you, and you turn, ready to cut him with your energy, but he blocks it, then quickly aims to cut into your side. It's out of your ability to block with the extension of your hand, so you have to do what has to be the hardest thing to do with all of spirit control. You have to make a band out of absolutely nothing.

You focus hard on the air at your side. The band that you create doesn't stop the sword entirely, but it does break some of the momentum as it tries to go through your skin, and all it does it sink a little bit before you manage to push it away, duck and force it over you, leaving Hiei's arm crossing his chest awkwardly. You use this opportunity to uppercut his diaphragm, knocking the wind out of him. He staggers back, coughing. You stand upright.

"Give up?"

"I wasn't trying," he says defensively, pulling himself up to his full height. Which isn't very tall. You smile. Neither of you are harmed too badly. You close up the wound in your side with strings of spirit energy that you use to stitch the wound together.

When you finish, you decide to piss him off, and tackle him. He can't dodge for his surprise, and you pin him. His arm moves for his dropped katana, but you pin that hand down.

"Getting sloppier," you say, grinning and putting your nose to his, mainly to tick him off. He tries to punch you, which surprises you. Your reflexes make you twitch and your head is pressed into his, making your lips meet awkwardly. You squirm and push yourself upright, shoving him away. He brushes himself off and picks up his katana.

And then you suddenly become aware that there is no ground beneath you, and then you hit the water before you even get to take a breath. You swim to the surface and struggle to get the water out of your nose without any air in your body.

"Can he swim?" you ask yourself before you remember that he's saved your ass before.

"You doubt me too much," he answers. "They tricked us."

"Didn't notice. Where are we?"

"It smells like home…" he mumbles, taking a sniff of the air. You chuckle, then take a whiff of the air and discover that he's very right.

"The Makai. Dammit. What's wrong with them?"

"Doesn't matter, they're not gonna live long after I get back. How do we get back."

You pull out your communicator and shout until someone answers their end. Botan.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH ANY OF YOU IDIOTS?! YOU'RE DEAD FUCKING MEAT THE INSTANT WE GET BACK THERE!"

"There's one problem. The way to get back is through admitting your feelings for the other one and acting on them."

"You better hope Koenma didn't destroy what's left of that drug he used to sedate me."

Hiei growls quietly. "Like hell I have any feelings for her," you hear him mutter. He knows you can hear him. "I am not that weak."

"Idiot, I know you feel for me, and I know that you don't want to act on it any more than I do."

You shoot a Spirit Gun through the water and kill the demon lurking in the water, watching both of you, then you swim to the edge of the water and use your energy to dry yourself off, just as Hiei does the same.

"What now?" Hiei asks, looking at you.

"I vote we go find somewhere to get a drink," you offer, putting up one hand.

Hiei, to no surprise, agrees, and you both start stalking forward, cursing every single psychic at Spirit World as you go.


	48. Can't Something Go Right?

_Can't Something Go Right?_

The alcohol does make you feel better. It doesn't make it all go away, but the effect is welcome. Plus you got to kill most of the people in the bar. Very dangerous, this town, Hiei warned you. He was right. But none of them fought you well enough to live long enough to do much besides cry for their mothers, so you're feeling a good bit better. Plus you're almost drunk enough to not see straight.

"How're we gonna get back, Hiei?" you ask.

"I don't know."

"Hey, Botan!" you call at your communicator. "What the hell does 'act on your feelings' mean?"

"Act on impulse, my dear! Do what you want to with each other! Act like there's no tomorrow."

"…What, you want me to do him?"

"A kiss will do nicely," Botan sings. "'course, a little more than that wouldn't be bad…"

"No."

She smiles at you, but you close the communicator.

You hear a loud rumbling noise and look out the window. Something throws you to the wall. You land next to Hiei, then grab his arm and put a barrier around both of you. Energy penetrates your barrier, but your drunkenness is still there too much to help in a fight. Hiei's already unconscious. You pull him closer to you and wrap your arms around him, protecting him as well as you can from debris as the walls fall down and are blown away. Something pierces the skin on your back. You stop it from getting all the way through you, but you pass out, still holding tightly onto Hiei, not letting yourself release him.

* * *

You wake up, Hiei still in your arms. You're bleeding from a small wound on your back. You look around and find yourself in a dungeon. Many bones and dead bodies lay around, and the stink is almost enough to make you gag.

You guess that Hiei's alive, because he's still warm. You wriggle away from him very carefully to not disturb him, and you look around blankly. You know you've been out for a while, since the alcohol isn't still haunting you. You're not sure what on earth has kept Hiei out cold for so long, because if he had woken up, he would not still have been even remotely so close to you.

You fumble for your communicator, but realize that it's gone.

"Shit."

The sound wakes Hiei up with a start, and you see his arm start for his katana before he realizes it's not there.

"Where are we? What happened?"

"I don't know, and we have been kidnapped. Though I can only wonder why we're not dead."

"I wanted a fight, little one," you hear a quiet voice say from a grating.

"Little one?" you both challenge.

"Don't feign ignorance, you both know that you're each young, and relatively small."

You growl quietly and cross your arms. "You wanna fight?"

"I've never met anyone as strong as you, child. Most would have been killed by the wound on your back, much less would they have stopped it from going all the way through.

"Interesting. So am I to fight you in a dungeon while you're out there, or what?"

"You are to get out of there. I know for a fact you can do it. I've done it. So break out."

You look at Hiei, who is looking very defenseless, right now, being off to a side, and so on guard that you're surprised he's not sprouted his extra eyes just so he can see better.

"I can't do anything with him in here, I might hurt him."

"What's wrong with that?"

"I am not going to hurt him, I will sooner rot."

"Don't be stupid, Kali. You can get rid of that grating without risking me."

"I can't fight him. He's class S."

"So are you."

"But I can only control my energy enough to make me class A. I am potentially class S, I just have to learn to control everything so definitely, and I can't even make my Spirit Gun's diameter less than the average meteor."

"Useless. Use your Spirit Gun to get rid of that grating, then go up there and kill him like you killed everything else."

"I don't think I can, Hiei, he's stronger than I am."

He growls at you, then goes and skulks near a wall, curled up and glaring at you over his arms, through a slat of his forehead and hair. You take aim with your Spirit Gun and shoot at the grating, which does not fly off or shatter or break into pieces. A hole, hardly big enough to get through, is produced from where one of the bars cleared away. You run up the wall and jump and cling to the bars, and pull yourself through. You're knocked back down in there.

"I don't intend to fight you, yet. You're yet too weak."

"What?"

"You're still wounded."

"What's it to you?"

"I prefer to fight my opponents fairly," he answers, dropping a rock over the escape route. It's not that it'll keep you there as much as it'll get in the way long enough to catch you, he so kindly reminds you as he leaves.

* * *

The pair of you sit and wait in the dungeon. He feeds you fairly often, and, every now and again, he will ask if he may see the wound on your back. Each time, you refuse to show him. Hiei keeps very quiet, the whole time, and you spend a lot of your time training yourself as well as you can, mainly kicking yourself between the ceiling and the walls and the floor, shadow-boxing, etc. Of course, this buys you more time, because the hole in your back grows continuously when you do this.

Until, after three days of strain, it opens wide and makes you say 'ah' for it.

"AH! Holy SHIT!" you curse, falling to your knees when your legs refuse to support you for the pain.

Hiei looks up at you and smiles slightly. You grin at him. "I was waiting for it," he finally says, tossing his cloak at you. You tie the sleeves together and tie them around you, stopping the bleeding as well as you can.

"I have decided on a fight date. You have a week. I suggest you stop training, that wound needs to heal," says the voice. "And I will also suggest that you each say what you need to say to each other. I have only kept the fire apparition because I suspect that it will upset you if I kill him, but when I kill you, I won't keep him."

You sigh quietly and look up at him. From what you can tell, he's about… eight feet tall, he's got green skin, blue hair, and blue eyes. If his appearance relates to his element, he is an earth or water demon. He's dressed in white robes with a green sash. He looks perfectly humanoid, other than his coloring, and the pointed ears. Fairly attractive.

But you caught the tones in his voice that told you he was lying. You weren't sure if he'd keep Hiei for something, or if he was just threatening you to scare you.

"What do you really intend to do with Hiei?"

"Is that his name?"

"Yeah."

"I thought I told you I intended to kill him."

"I know you're lying. I can hear you."

"Very good, girl. But what I intend to do with your…. Shall I assume that he is your lover? is no matter to you, because if I live, you will be dead, and you won't know, and if you live, I will be dead, and it won't have happened."

"Lover?" both you and Hiei ask, looking at one another.

"The way you're so very protective of him led me to assume so, I apologize. What relationship do you share?"

Neither of you says anything. Neither of you knows the answer.

"Ah. Not quite lovers, but you're in love, yes?"

"Shut up," you both spit. Hiei's hand goes to where his sword should be, and your fist charges itself up.

"So violent…" he mumbles. You growl. "Relax. You have a week to heal. I suggest you use the time to do so."

"Well," you sigh when he disappears from view. Hiei sighs quietly, almost inaudibly, and you look up at him to see him looking concernedly at you.

"What?"

"You'd better win. I will not be put into servitude."

"Oh, yeah, Hiei, I'm really going to let him have you. You have too little faith in me. I'll throw my own life away, but not yours."

He smirks, then gets to his feet, a rare motion in the past three days, and he moves next to you and sits next to you.

"I miss my trees," he finally mumbles. You, surprised to hear something so soft out of him, can't help but swing your gaze to him, but he's not looking at you.

"Surprising, to hear you let such a sentiment escape."

"Is it?"

"I'm not used to you being so open," you mumble, climbing up to the chains hanging from the ceiling and finding your usual perch on a few sets of shackles you've linked together to form something of a hammock or swing. Hiei joins you. You lean against him and put your chin on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Hiei."

"What?"

"Well, it's my fault we're here. If I hadn't been so damn drunk, I would have been able to fight him the first time. And we wouldn't be running this risk. And we wouldn't be down here."

He doesn't say anything. You sigh and close your eyes, taking in his scent and relaxing. He, uneasily, puts his hand to your head and begins to scratch. You, habitually, stretch out and put your head in his lap, curling the rest of you up unnaturally, backwards, so you can stay on your semi-comfortable perch. He finds that spot behind your ear that makes you slump and wriggle slightly.

"Yusuke wasn't kidding," he mumbles, nearly inaudibly with a chuckle as he scratches your head. You close your eyes, unable to keep them open, and you feel yourself fall into a state of weak euphoria that is almost always brought with a head scratch, and is mildly intensified by the strange secure feeling that Hiei's offering, somehow. You look up at him through a half-opened eye and see that he's smiling, just a little. You close your eye again and wait for a little bit. Hiei moves slightly, but you don't move, trying to go to sleep. He pulls you into his arms and a feeling of bliss shoots through you, and you suddenly realize that, even in your current situation, you feel perfectly safe, perfectly invulnerable because Hiei will give you strength. He shifts off the swing and drops to the floor. You feel air rush up around you, and then you land, and he goes and lies himself down in his usual corner, holding you in his arms. You curl into his arms against his chest and settle and close your eyes and fall into a deep sleep.


	49. End of Tension

_End of the Tension_

You pull yourself through the grating at the end of the week, having slept through most of the waiting period, trying to heal as he had asked you to.

"Well-rested, whole, and afraid…. Recipe for a perfect fight," your captor says proudly. You look up at him and don't dare to blink. He vanishes. Not moved so fast he appeared to vanish. He disappeared. You couldn't even hear him.

He appears behind you and pets at your hair without touching you, putting his face near yours.

"You charged blindly into this."

"I had no choice," you murmur, spinning on your toes and bringing your elbow up to connect with his diaphragm, but he vanishes again. You wait for him to appear again, so you can attack, but he doesn't reappear, just yet. He reappears and punches you firmly in the solar plexus. You throw your energy out to meet him, but he's gone again. Or so you think. You see him stagger back into view, somewhere off to the left. You wait again for him to attack, but he doesn't.

"You've figured it out."

"Only that trick."

"Very good. Let's see how well you deal with this one."

He waves an arm, and everything around you erupts, the ground bursts up and great rocks fly into the air. You create a barrier, and then run at him, creating the knife on your fist to punch him with, but he catches it and throws you into the air, snapping your arm. You scream in pain, and then stop yourself from falling, and you throw your energy straight down to meet him. He throws up an arm to catch the attack with, and you see some of his robes tear away, and you throw more at him, before you land. You crouch when you land, keeping your distance.

"Wretch…" he whispers. "I let you recover so long, and this is how you repay me?"

"You didn't want a fair fight, you wanted to feel the power killing me offers."

"Very good," he mumbles. He vanishes again, and you feel his arms wrap around you, and he teasingly bites your ear.

"Oh, you wanted to know what I want to do with your handsome mate over there, yes?"

At the word "handsome," you suddenly know.

"Oh, sick," you bark, kicking him firmly in the gonads. He releases you and clutches himself, and you drop to the ground and shoot him with enough of a spirit gun to freeze him for a minute.

And then you decide to cause problems for him. You gather a whole bunch of your energy enter your body, painfully chasing rabbits through each extremity and limb, and then you force all of it out of you, all at him. You'd forgotten how much it hurts to do that. It feels like your skin's being ripped from the muscle, which is being ripped from the bone by hooks and claws. He creates a shield of dirt around him, but it all shatters, and you hear him screaming in pain, though his shrieks are slightly louder than your own, until it suddenly stops, and the flow of energy dies, and you drop to the ground, hardly able to hold yourself up. He's not dead, yet, but neither are you, so no one's won, yet. You allow what's left of your power into you, and you throw all of that at him, doing less damage, but still doing damage. You try to get up, but you can't make yourself do so.

"You know… it was very touching, the…" he pauses to cough, "sentiment between you two…"

"Shut up and die already."

"Yes, ma'am," he agrees. You hear footsteps heading for you. Hiei. He picks you up and holds you in his arms, then steps on the bad guy's head, crushing it, and stalks back to Creepazoid's home to find your communicator and his sword.

"Can you move, yet?" he asks after what feels like hours of sitting in a room of this guy's home.

You attempt to wiggle your fingers, but nothing happens. "No. Unless that's the broken arm. Which one did he break?"

"The left one."

"Nope, I can't move, yet."

He puts you down in a corner, leaning you back so it's supporting your head so you can watch what's going on. He searches through the room very wholly.

"Why are you so weak, now? The last time you used all your energy, you could still carry Yusuke around."

"One, I didn't use all my energy, I just didn't have enough to fight. Two, I hurt myself when I used as much as I did at once. Remember that I wrap my right arm?"

"Yes."

"That's there because I put too much energy in it at once, one time. S'kinda like your dragon."

He looks over at you, looking kinda pained. You smirk a little and try to get up, but pain wracks your body, and you decide that you're not going to try that again for a minute or fifteen.

"You're hurt more than you're letting on, aren't you?" he asks knowingly. You know he knows that you're in more pain than you seem, right now, passing it off as weakness.

"Huh…?"

"I saw that. You're hurt more than you're letting on."

"I'm fine, I just won't be able to move for a while."

The two of you sit for a minute, and you look at your broken arm. "I need you to set my arm for me, if you would, please," you mutter. "I'd rather you did it now, when I'm less likely to, you know, attack and kill something."

He turns his head to you and he makes a face. "Are you sure?"

"It needs to be done. I can splint it myself."

He makes a face and, after taking a hold on your hand and your elbow, he turns his head as he jerks it roughly back into place. You clench your teeth and make a very rough sound of pain. He lets go and walks away. You attempt to move your good arm, but the only reason that can move is because you just got a boost of energy from the pain that was induced. You untie his sleeves around your waist, and you wrap them tightly around the broken arm and fall back against the wall, chewing on your lip for the pain, and struggling to fight several screams that work themselves up your chest.

He smirks, then tosses your communicator to you, and pulls his sword out of its sheath, looks it over, seems satisfied, and puts it away.

"Call them, I can't move anymore, Hiei."

He scowls and opens the communicator, then looks at it disdainfully. "I don't see the point of these ridiculous things," he finally mumbles. You hear Botan's voice on the other end.

"Hiei?"

"If we don't get a portal there, I'm going to kill all of you."

"Why are you using the communicator?"

"Kali's out of commission."

"Let me see her."

He turns the communicator toward you. You don't look at it, being too weak to lift your head, but you stick your tongue out at her.

"Oh. Oh, dear," you hear Botan murmur.

A portal opens of unknown origins, and Hiei picks you up and carries you through. You land in the hospital, but Hiei doesn't lay you down, yet. He takes you up to your room and puts you on your own bed.

"Doushite?" you ask weakly. ((Means "Why?"))

"You said you'll recover on your own, yes? I thought you would prefer being in your own bed, rather than in the hospital. It smells horribly."

You smile. "Thanks."

He smirks back at you and you smile weakly, and you stretch out on your bed, aching with every movement, and you close your eyes. The door opens, and Hiei as good as vanishes, and Botan walks in.

"What happened?"

"Class S demon, why?"

"You're alive?!"

"Ouch, my pride."

"Not that I wouldn't expect you to, but we all know that you can't tap into more than half at a time without killing yourself!"

"I know," you mumble. "Why do you think I'm hurt this badly?"

"Can you move?"

"No."

"Can you try?"

"Yes, but that hurts very badly."

"Of course it does, I wouldn't ask you to move if I thought you could without hurting yourself, are you okay? What happened to your arm?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, he just broke my arm, and it's already set and splinted, just let me recover. Go away."

She looks hard at you, then pets your hair apologetically. You want to kick her ass, but you have to resort to throwing your energy out at her fairly wildly, not being able to aim so well, but she gets knocked back.

"If you're going to try to kill me, Kali, do it so I can see it, please."

"I can't, dammit. Get out of here."

She nods slowly, and leaves. You use your psychic powers to lock the door, and Hiei steps back into view from somewhere on your balcony.

"What kept you?" he asks.

"What?"

"From killing her."

"Oh. Uh, general weakness, I suppose."

"Yeah, I thought so."

He sits on the side of your bed, cross-legged.

"Are we over the tension?"

He looks down at you. "Don't expect any special treatment."

You chuckle. "And they're never gonna find out, got it?" you say.

"Hai," he agrees, getting off your bed and leaving the room.


	50. Ice Cream Introductions

_Ice Cream Introductions_

Hiei spends a lot of time helping you recover, helping you get to a point you can feed yourself, helping you get to a point where you can walk around the room by yourself, etc. though he doesn't show much more kindness than when you first met, 'cept he's not dragging you to your feet by your arm when you fall.

Eventually, you start venturing out of your room, usually heavily bandaged and moving much slower than normal, but still moving of your own accord. You sit on the couch, now and again.

One day, Yusuke sits beside you. "Hey, Kali. Are you okay?"

"Yeah," you say. "Wanna go for ice cream, or something? I'm feeling adventurous today."

He looks at you oddly, then nods very slowly. You giggle and pull him by the hand to the portal to your house, then lead him to your garage.

There's a motorcycle in the garage. Yours. Christmas/birthday gift from Ender for... roughly ten years. You won't get anything from him for the rest of your life, but this bike has proved worth it.

You get on and start it. He climbs on behind you, and you race out of the garage down the street. You feel Yusuke's grip around your middle start to creep up to your chest, and you elbow him in the chest. He falls off, so you turn and let him back on, then continue, giggling constantly. Yusuke, though you never see it, is staring at you like you've grown horns. ((Oh, wouldn't that be cool?))

You pull into the closest Baskin Robbins and get a double scoop of ice cream for yours, and pay for his to be nice.

"You're a great friend," you mutter over your ice cream.

"You're the one buying me ice cream," he says, grinning dumbly.

"So?"

"Dumb thing to be telling me."

"Meh, I just wanted company," you say, shoving another bite into your mouth. Yusuke quirks an eyebrow.

"You mean besides Hiei?"

"Yeah."

He laughs a little, and you get a great view of what half-"chewed" ((Well, what exactly do you DO to ice cream that makes it more digestable?)) ice cream looks like. You settle on the chair and grin at him. "Sooo... How's it between you and Keiko?"

"We're goin' pretty good. You haven't met her, yet, have you?" he asks. "Or Yukina."

"No, not really. Bumped into Yukina while I was blind, but the only reason I knew it was her was because... well, she was quiet, and anyone you'd go out with couldn't be quiet."

"Funny, I figured they'd make you go shopping with them when you joined the team. They usually make us do it to carry our bags, but with another girl around, I'd figured they'd haul you with them."

You laugh and lean back in your chair and grin at him. He laughs, too.

"Soooo..." he starts.

"So what?"

"Do I get to hear your story?"

"Oh... Sure. What of it I can remember. Memories tend to come and go as they please," you say. He nods and sits back.

The story is very, very, very long, and you tend to skip from here to there. Genkai's training you when you were four, actually beginning to work for Koenma when you were seven, training with Ender all your life, being adopted, what little you could remember of your mother... He heard what you could get together in your head.

"And then I met you guys."


	51. Why?

_Why?_

"Why'd you go up for adoption? Why'd the demon family adopt you? Why the _hell_ was Genkai so nice to you?"

"I don't know, because Koenma told them to, and because I was four years old and not a smart-ass fourteen-year-old."

"What's your mother look like?"

You smile slightly. "It's in my pocket, check the jacket."

He has to empty your coat pockets before he finds three or four pockets that he doesn't know about, and starts emptying _those_ ((Oh, THAT'S what happened to those pens!)) and finds it and looks at it.

"Oh, you were cute," he says, narrowing his eyes at you. "But that's your mom? She's... she's obviously a demon, why'd you think you're human?"

"Didn't think she was my birth mother, either," you say. "I look completely human, and I have human bones and everything. And it's not so odd for women to die in childbirth," you say, scratching your nose. He starts loading everything into the pockets, then pauses.

"Do you have anything in any particular pockets?"

"No, I just look through them all until I find whatever I'm looking for. 'cept that fourth one that I'd forgotten about."

"Ah. So why'd you bring me here?"

"Told you earlier, I'm tired of being alone."

"Ah. I see. Why not Hiei?"

"Hiei. Ice cream." The thought itself makes you giggle. He'd have a little chocolate smear around his mouth. And then you could lick it off, the idea of which makes you giggle hysterically.

Yusuke looks at you like you're insane. You smile cheerfully and grin. "I'm sorry. Thought." You grin.

"Ah. Can I ask of what nature?"

"No."

"Please??"

"Shut up," you say, pegging him with a tester spoon. He ducks and holds his arms up to shield himself. You laugh, and he throws it back, also laughing. It bounces off your forehead and goes up to the ceiling, but you catch it when it comes down and throw it back. He dodges it and it hits the chair behind him and you both start laughing like lunatics.

"What are you two doing?" Kuwabara asks. Yukina and Shizuru are with him.

"Are you the new girl working with my baby brother?" Shizuru asks, taking a drag off her cigarette.

"Yeah. Name's Kali."

"Shizuru. ... Say, kid, that's a load of spikes stickin' out of you. S'at healthy?"

"That's her spirit energy, Shizuru," Yukina says quietly. "It looks like a bunch of spikes. What kind of demon has that aura?"

"No kind in particular. Just everything in existence."

"Pardon me, but, what do you mean?" Yukina asks. You smile. Hiei's sister. You've never actually seen her, but now that you've gotten to see her, you can make the connection between her and Hiei, but only because you've been admiring Hiei for a time now. She has the same color eyes as Hiei and her face and head is the same shape. The only reason you knew she was Hiei's sister before was the smell you detected when you were still blind.

"I mean that I'm a mixed breed," you answer.

"Like my brother, I heard," she says. "That's why he wasn't allowed to stay with us. Oh, I'm sorry- I don't mean to do that, but I've been thinking about him a lot," she says.

"You'll find him, he's probably right under your nose," you say, seeing Yusuke wildly shaking his head behind Shizuru's back and drawing his finger over his throat. So she doesn't know Hiei is her brother? And my wish-were future sister-in-law. Hee...

"So have you met Keiko?" Shizuru asks.

"No, not yet. Heard she and Botan would drag me into shopping with them."

"Yes, they would," Botan answers from behind you. You jump and turn and are about half a centimeter from elbowing Botan in the head, but you pull the blow.

"Egh... Don't sneak up on me, you dipshit, I could kill you like that," you growl. You look at Yusuke, who is no longer behind Shizuru. He's busy flirting with Keiko, who is about three feet away from Botan, but steadily squirming away as Yusuke gets closer.

"No! Not shopping!" you yelp, climbing onto Kuwabara's head like a scared cat.

"That's an odd behavior shift," Botan says. "What's the moon phase?"

"New," you say. "But no matter- I'm not going shopping."

"We'll make you come, one way or another."

"Wanna bet? You're talking to the most powerful demon hunter in existence," you say, glaring.

"You won't hurt us."

"Oh yeah? I can tie you up, pin you to the ground, hang you from that wall, that light post, or drag you behind my motorcycle."

Botan goes suddenly very quiet, and then pulls Keiko with her over to Kuwabara and Shizuru and Yukina. Yusuke's glaring at you.

"Don't hurt Keiko, I'd have to kill you," he says quietly. You stick your tongue out at him, and you start to leave, but all of them except Yukina tackle you and pin you to the ground. You wriggle, but you're too afraid to hurt them.

"Guys, you'll have to get off me at some point. And the only way to do that is to give me the chance to get to my bike. No way in hell am I leaving that here."

"Please? Just for a little while!" Botan pleads.

"No!" you scream, twisting and trying to wriggle away from them. "Please! I hate shopping! Especially with girls!"

"How about we make one of the boys come along. Would you agree, then?"

There's a long pause. They're not getting off any time soon, you decide, and then you growl and nod. "Fine. They'll draw straws, so we're gonna go back. You guys can follow me to my house and we can take a portal.

"Nonsense! I can make one, and then we can come back here after the decision is made."


	52. Shopping Oh, God, Help

_Shopping. Oh Lord Help..._

Poor Yusuke is the victim of having to go shopping with you and the girls. Poor boy. But you both wind up doing the same thing, walking behind the chattering girls with your hands in your pockets and your heads down, except when Botan or Keiko grabs your arm and drags you over to talk about how cute you'd be in this dress, or when Yusuke decides to pick on Keiko with a bit of "underwear" he likes.

"Lemme alone! I don't wear dresses!" you shout for what has to be the six hundredth time. "You do it again, I'm going to the arcade to play DDR, and I'm not coming until you're in your fucking car and you use the damned communicator to tell me!"

"We've already agreed, you get to go to the arcade with us when we finish. Now come on, won't you try on this dress for us? Just this one? Or we won't let you go to the arcade."

"What?!" you almost shout. Yusuke looks at you amusedly, but you hit him in the head for looking at you like that, and then continue glaring at the girls.

"Just try on this dress!"

"I'm happy with my t-shirts and jeans, thank you!"

"None of them FIT!"

"They do too fit. They just don't fit as tight as you think they should."

"You buy your clothes at thrift shops and sizes that are two times too big for you. The only reason your pants don't fall down all the time is because you're a girl!" Keiko shouts.

"So WHAT?"

"So you've got a figure under that long flour bag of a coat and your tents that you call clothes!"

"And I suppose you want to see it?"

"I want to see how pretty you really can be!"

"Why do I sense a trip to the make-up department?"

"If you don't go with this, we're going to make you carry one of us on your back. And there's no way you can knock any of us off you without hurting us, and no one will be happy with you for that."

"So? Are you forgetting who I am? I can probably carry all of you at once, if I could figure out how."

"No, I'm not forgetting. I know full well that you won't put up with anyone screaming in your very sensitive ear," Botan says, petting your chin with a finger. You fight the urge to punch her in the jaw, but you settle very firmly where you stand. "Now, try this on!" she says, holding a slinky-looking red dress at you. You look at it, then at her.

"Botan... Please... I'm not a whore."

"I never said you were."

"Prove it and pick out something that doesn't show my back, half my boobs, and most of my legs, please?"

"You have boobs?" Keiko says skeptically, quirking an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't you like to know, you little lesbo?" you demand, crossing your arms.

"Oooh, testy," Botan says. Yukina puts her hand on your arm, but you shrug her off very gently. You sit down on the floor like a little girl, until Botan comes back with another red dress. It's got no sleeves, but it goes all the way up to your neck on the back and the front, and it goes to the floor with a slit on one side, most of the way up to the hip. The lining is gold and black, tracing around the edge of the collar and there is a band of it that goes over where your left breast would be, were you wearing it, down to the waist, and there's a black foot-wide ribbon tied loosely around the waist. You look up at her.

"Why _red_? Black, sure, but why the _hell_ do you pick _red_ so fucking much?"

"You seem like a very red person," she says with a cheerful smile.

"Maybe because I'm usually bleeding when you see me," you growl, "or I've got some blood on me, in any case. And there'll be your blood on my fist in a little while."

"Enough talk, go change," Botan says, pointing. You lead the way to the changing rooms, and you stand in the stall. You have to keep your word, so you dress into the red... _thing_.

"I've changed. You'll be able to tell because there's gonna be a hole in this stupid door, and you'll see me in it, right after I get my fist out of it. I don't like it, and I'm changing back."

"No! You have to model it for us!" Botan demands.

"I'm not modeling anything for anyone!"

"I'll ride on your back and scream in your ear for every five minutes-" Keiko threatens.

"Come ON, guys, it's _touching_ me! And it's red! And... Uggghh!"

"Come out, give us a twirl, then go back and change back. And if we like it, we're buying it."

"For WHO?"

"You, silly."

"And I would wear a dress without this obligation...?"

"Oh, I dunno. You might get a date with a certain someone. You ARE supposed to mother the greatest things of all time with--"

"Say it, and I'll kill you," you say very evenly. "And I may not be their mother. It's a possibility, not a fact."

"Good enough a possibility that I'll talk about it!" Botan says. "And I'll say it if you don't come out in three... two..."

You open the door and walk out, arms crossed and head down. You look at Botan with the death glare that Hiei tends to give Kuwabara. "Lower your arms."

You put them at your sides, but your fists are clenched.

"Pick your head up."

You do as she says, but you are twitching, now, with your anger and you seem ready to launch yourself at the Reaper and kill her.

"She's got a figure!" Keiko squeals.

"She's got a _great_ figure," Botan says, sounding amazed. "I didn't know you could be so pretty!"

"You know, all I have to do to kill you is thump a little bit of air in your face."

"But you're so pretty!" Botan says, grabbing your shoulders from behind and pushing you towards the area the others are waiting in. You grab her arm and flip her over your back, and she lands on her back and starts whining as you stomp off to the others.

"Where's Botan?" Yukina asks. You point back into the dressing rooms.

"I, uh... knocked her down," you say. Botan comes out, fuming.

"Knocked me down my ass; you flipped me onto the floor and nearly broke my arm and my neck!"

"Yes, and it's the most exciting thing that will ever happen because of this dress unless I happen to kill you in it, and this is red- the blood won't show," you warn.

"But you're so pretty in it," Yukina says sweetly. "It's very nice on you."

"We're buying it! And we'll be stopping in the make-up department to get you some make-up to go with this. And shoes."

"I don't know how to put make-up on, for one ((I don't. And I'm putting this down on you.)) and for another, I'm never wearing this thing again, no matter how I look," you growl. You retreat back to the changing stall and you hear Yukina outside the door. You pull your pants on and let her in the stall, because you don't want anything she finds important enough to talk about heard.

"Kali-san, you don't have to be so self-conscious. You did look very pretty," she whispers. "And Hiei-sama will think so, too."

"How'd you know--"

"I could guess," she says with a smile. Her tones told you she is lying her ass off.

"Botan told you. You're a bad liar. Now, I've held up my end of the bargain, could you help me keep them off my back, literally?"

"Oh, of course," she says. "After we get the shoes and make-up. We're trying to get you and Hiei-sama to go on a date."

"Whose idea was that?" you ask, feeling very homicidal all of a sudden, and being perfectly willing to skip the arcade if you get the opportunity to rip Botan's heart with your bare hand.

"Botan-san's, I think," she says, confirming your suspicion.

"Oh. I'll run her through."

"Oh, no, please!" Yukina yelps, grabbing your arm. "Please, no! Just try, just once. You like him, don't you?"

"It's not whether or not I like him, it's whether or not we can spend a night alone with each other without one of us killing the other for some reason or another."

"Oh... He won't," she says cheerfully as she leaves. You follow her, shoving the dress into Botan's arms and stalking away before Keiko grabs your arm.

"We need you with us for the make-up. And we need to know what size shoes you wear."

A long pause passes between you, then you look at your boots, at the bottom, though you know what size they are- they are men's. You know what you wear in men's sizes, but women's sizes are complicated and you have no idea what you wear in any of them.

"Uhh... I don't know what size shoes I wear in women's. Mens, I wear a seven. ((An eight is a nine and a half in women's, but apparently, I have big feet for a female, so I'm taking it down.))

"Oh. We can use a chart, then, to help us," she says with a smile. "Now, come on, we need to have your face to help us with the make-up."

You groan again as they start dragging you. Yusuke looks amused as you walk behind them with your head down.

"What the fuck are you smirking at?" you demand, glaring heatedly at Yusuke.

"You," he answers.

"Shut up," you answer, punching at him. He catches your fist, but he doesn't catch the other fist going for his solar plexus and you knock the wind out of him. He punches you in the back when you turn around, and you launch yourself at him, tackling him to the floor. Botan and Keiko team up to wrestle you to the floor, and Yukina calms Yusuke down easily, grabbing his arm and hanging onto it. He wouldn't have stopped if he wasn't so sure that someone would die if he didn't. You, however, are fighting like a madwoman to be released, but you can't figure out how much strength it would take to force both of them off of you, so you calm down and settle where you lay until they get off you.

"Don't fight, dummy, or we'll-"

"I know."

"You're silly," Yukina says. You smile slightly at her. It's hard to be mad at someone who's so sweet, you think, but you suddenly remember how easy it is to be angry with Botan as she sits you in the chair next to the test samples. An old woman wearing the wrong colors walk up, but you insult her until she goes away, and a younger woman wearing the _right_ colors comes towards you. You sit with your jaw clenched and your eyes shut while they chatter about what to do about a foundation, because your skin color doesn't seem to suit anything they have. ((I, apparently, have this problem, being sheet-white. Even the "Ivory" stuff doesn't suit me. I found this out at school when I became my Chorus class's Barbie Doll. Whee. But in any case, I'm inflicting this on you, too. God opened the clouds and said "fuck the Irish. And the Scotts."))

"Well... We could just not use foundation- she's not going to be wearing this for long," Botan says. "And we can't have much, because I'm afraid she'll injure anyone who stays around her face like this for too long."

"First date for the rocker punk?" woman asks.

_More like an experiment with a trained killer,_ you think. Yusuke laughs a little, almost too quietly to hear. You look at him and narrow your eyes hatefully, until Botan starts brushing a shade of blush on you and you automatically close your eyes again to concentrate on not reaching up and breaking her arm. Someone starts putting something on your eye, and you grip the arm of the chair, which suddenly creaks.

"Calm down, it's just eye shadow!" Keiko hisses.

"She's... touching... me..." you hiss back.

"It's _okay_," Botan says in your ear.

"I'm going to snap..." you say. Then it goes away, and they start back on your eyes.

Through the eye liner, it's very tempting to reach up and just snap Botan's right wrist, and the woman-helping-her's left one. It's also very tempting to scream and run, but you're afraid that you'll get stabbed in the eyes if you move.

"I swear to all gods, I can walk into a fight six thousand to one and not bat an eye, but make-up will be the end of me," you groan when they finish. Botan smiles cheerfully.

"Nonsense! You look wonderful!"

You look in the mirror and see that you're wearing very red lipstick, almost as red blush, red eye shadow, and black eyeliner and mascara. You realize, for the first time, that you have very strangely waved eyelashes.

Botan's buying the right shades of make-up and you run as quickly as possible to the nearest bathroom to get this shit off your face.

"Get it OFF!" you yelp, scrubbing your eyes and watching the black run into the water and down your face, making streaks on your face. It has a fascinating look, but you take it off and start for the arcade. Yusuke's waiting outside the bathroom for you.

"Why are you here?"

"Because as much as I love my girlfriend, I don't want to spend any more time with her friends," he answers. "You're more fun."

"Ah," you mutter. "Do you know how to play DDR?"

"Yes, but I'm not going to."

"Aw, come on, just because you have no rhythm doesn't mean you won't be fast enough to get it."

He glares.

"Okay," you mutter. You walk into the arcade and get some tokens and you start to play. Yusuke watches you, until you finally pull him onto the neighboring pad.

He's actually pretty good, you find out. Ties with you on Standard Mode. But he still loses in the long run.

"You two!" Botan screams at you. You turn around and look at her, still going on "Twilight Zone", though you have trouble with doing it backwards.

"Yes?"

"We're leaving."

"Leddus finish this one, then we'll come," you say, smiling and turning back around just in time for the big finish.

"Okay, we're coming," you say. Botan has a frightening number of bags with her, which she promptly shoves into your arms, so you wind up carrying them to their car.

To no surprise, when you get there, Yusuke takes your bike helmet and waits for you on your bike while the girls are giggling profusely as they pile into the car.


	53. Forced Date

_Forced Date_

"I am NOT going on ANY SUCH THING!" you and Hiei shout at the same time.

"He'll kill me!" you scream.

"She's a baka onna with no brains in her skull!"

"I don't want to date anyone as heartless as him!"

"I refuse to go near anyone that's so childish!"

"And--HEY! Who the fuck are you calling childish?! I'm not childish, you bastard!" you yell.

"You are stupid, naive, and childish, and you know it!" he answers.

You launch yourself at him and pound his head into the floor, punching his mouth several times, until he rolls onto you and punches your face, too, not really caring where he hits, until you hook one of your feet around his neck and force him to the ground and heel-smash him in the chest with your other leg. He twists and slings you to the ground and stands up as you kick yourself up and you both tackle each other into a game of mercy, staggering one at a time until he hits the wall. He pulls his sword out and puts it to your throat, but you grab it and twist it so that the flat of the blade is what's touching you, and you push it towards him, using your energy to make the blade hotter, until it spreads to the hilt and he throws it, then punches you in the stomach. You knee him in the side, and you both press-kick each other away from the other one. Yusuke and Kurama grab your arms and pull you back, and Yukina's with Hiei, calming him down the way that it seems only she can. You slam Kurama and Yusuke into each other and sit down in the floor.

"I don't want to."

"It's an under cover thing. Please," Koenma pleads.

"Why can't I go with one of the others?"

"Because we need full fledged demons on this."

"Why not Kurama?"

"He's in a human body."

"Come _on_, guys, please?" you beg. "I'm willing to beg to get out of this one!"

"No. Come on," Botan answers. "We need to start getting you ready, you have to be there in an hour.

"I have to start NOW?"

"Yes. Come on."

"Hiei, get us out of this, please?" you beg.

He looks at you, then at the boys, all of whom are keeping a safe distance for as long as you're in sight, but you hear several cries of pain as the fight breaks out when the girls manage to get you out of the room.

They finally finish with you after what seems like days in the bathroom, and Botan has bruises all over her wrists, and you have bruises on yours from where Shizuru finally had to help hold you still. You groan slightly and look at the mirror to discover that you don't look anything like yourself.

"I look like a cheap French whore!" you whine.

"French?" Botan asks, smiling over your shoulder.

"What are we going to do about her hair?"

"What about it?"

"Well... It's... Maybe we should curl it?"

"Ooooh, we could do it like this!" Keiko says, handing someone a magazine.

You groan. The picture is pretty, yes, but you don't want it done to your head.

The final result is someone that all four girls are smiling brightly about. You pull away from them and go downstairs, wearing the dress and everything, holding the shoes in your hand and wondering how the hell you're staying upright in the black pantyhose that are making your feet slide on the floor.

"I must admit, the girls are right- you are quite lovely," Kurama says.

"I look like a whore," you whine.

"And I look like an idiot," Hiei complains in his dressed up clothes. They look slightly ill-fitted for someone as thick as he is, and you giggle.

"Yes, you do," you answer. "Couldn't you find anything that fit him?"

"No. We'd have to get it custom made because of his height." You laugh a little when you see the look that Hiei's giving Kurama.

"Why the hell do we have to do this?" you ask.

"Because we need full demons on this!" Koenma says. He is staring at you with oddly big eyes, and you hit him in the head.

"Whether or not I look like a whore, you do not have the right to stare at me like that."

"I pay you. I get to stare at you as much as I like."

You see Hiei's fist clench, but you dismiss it in your rage, and you pick up the now-teenaged form of Koenma by the collar and slam him into a wall.

"You're REALLY pissing me off."

"New moon, isn't it?" For some reason or another, Koenma looks mostly terrified, and he's smiling up at you in a very dumbassed sort of way.

"Yes. Very new moon. And you're not helping much, being a pain in the ass and making me wear... THIS."

"New moon?" Kuwabara asks.

"My moods depend heavily on the moon phase. I'm usually at my most hyper or excited when it's waxing, gibbous. And when it's new, my mood varies incredibly, and there is no such thing as a happy medium with my emotions," you explain. "And right now, I'm pissed, and murderous, and there's pretty much nothing that'll stop me."

You throw Koenma onto the couch and put one of the high-heeled shoes on his chest and glare at him heatedly.

"Please, Kali, don't...?" he pleads.

"Don't WHAT?" you demand.

"Tear me into pieces and make a great bloody mess all over the place," he finishes, closing his eyes and turning his head.

"Very good," you say, pushing off him with the heel and standing upright and brushing yourself off. You look at Hiei, who is skulking next to you, and you growl slightly.

"Come on."

"Whoooaaa... We can only hope they both come back before one of them dies." Yusuke says quietly after you leave.

"I just hope they come back," Koenma sighs.


	54. Interesting Night

_Interesting Night_

"Do you think Enma'd be pissed if I killed his son?"

"Probably."

"Do you think there's anything that can be done about it?"

"About what?"

"My killing him and not wanting to go to prison."

"All they have to do is find enough people to wear you down to kill you."

"Ah, yeah..."

"What are we looking for again?"

"Something about a songstress. She's making a human army out of the people here, doing it a few at a time when she sings and makes them mindless. Humans are the only ones affected. Funny fancy night club for people that like top hats."

"You must remind me," he complains. His hair and Jagan have been hidden under a top hat.

"Hey, shut up. That was an easy thing to do. Can you _imagine_ what _I_ went through?"

"No."

"They... they kept messing with my face and my hair and my eyes. I nearly broke Botan's arm when she went after me with that eye-pencil fuckamajig, and Shizuru had to hold me still to keep me from killing her." _I would have, too,_ you add silently, _if she'd told me Hiei'd think it's pretty one more time._

Someone on the stage of the little nightclub starts doing a comedic routine, and you look at him, then at the crowd. No change, so you settle into your seat a little farther and look hard at your coffee. You actually hate coffee ((I says so)), but you got some anyway, because you don't want any water.

"Why do humans do this?" Hiei asks after a few minutes of breathing in the cigarette smoke.

"Social interaction thing, I guess. Not being at home twenty-four-seven. Which DOES get mighty boring when it's not a relief that you're not dying."

"Hn."

"You say that a lot. Do I get to hear the Forbidden Child's story? Any of it I haven't heard?"

"You know about my history, too, do you?"

"Hard to not hear about the tragic story of Hiei Jaganshi when I've been around Spirit World since I was three. And I had to watch each of you for a while on duty, I couldn't have been more than seven years old. But we tend to check on people who have Jagans implanted. You're the eighth, I think. I could be wrong, my memory's a bitch. Kurama, I didn't think anyone knew about. I found him while I was tracking you. Didn't tell anyone. And I think, at one point or another, Yusuke and I got kicked out of the same school at the same time for a fight. Saved Kuwabara's ass before, from some demon that fed on human souls, and he just happened to seem pretty tasty at the time."

"Oh."

"Yeah, I know more than I seem to. I've existed longer than I've known you guys."

"Hn."

You hear a loud noise on the stage, the man growling and giving up and running away. You giggle.

A woman walks up to you and sits down next to you, looking very hard at you. She's wearing a blue dress, but that's all you really notice. A couple more girls sit down near Hiei, and you feel jealousy bubble up.

"Excuse me, but I saw you sitting here so quietly, and I just had to come over," one says.

"Well, you're over here, now, so you've accomplished your task, and you can move on to the next life-long dream you have," you answer in a low warning growl.

She ignores the tones. "Oh, but I just have to ask you a few question, deary. I'm sorry, this won't take but a minute, and then you two can get back to your date, if Yumie and Yukiko feel like leaving him alone. But why don't we just wait a second and talk?"

You growl, and your hand twists into your napkin, and you wish it was Marie's back that is twisting in your hands for looking at Hiei like that.

"Fine," you say tersely.

"Well, first of all, I'm Kasumi," she says, extending her hand to you. You glare at it, but don't take it, even with your gloved hands. She puts her hand back on her lap. "I see, then. What's your name?"

"Ara," you answer. (Obviously lying.)

"Oh. Lovely. Well, Madame Ara, I must ask you- where on _earth_ did you get that dress?"

"A gift," you answer. "From my friends."

"It fits you so well! You look absolutely stunning. Which brings another question to mind- what gym do you attend? You're built beautifully. Why, you look like you'd be the one to sweep your, eh, boyfriend off his feet instead of the other way around!"

"I don't go to any gyms, I train at home," you answer.

"Ah... Must be terrific, you look so young."

"Thank you," you say as coldly as you can, looking up at her. You see that she's much older than her make-up lets you see at a distance. Odd, that she wears make-up to look younger and you wear it to look older.

Hiei is brushing the women on his sides away, and you feel the knot of jealousy begin to loosen itself.

An odd sound brushes through the air, and the woman next to you no longer looks malicious. She looks dead. And as you look around, everyone else is looking quite limp. They've slumped in their chairs, into their food, onto the floor, just laying there. You and Hiei stand up and approach the woman singing with a bright smile on her face. She has brown hair and brown eyes, but you're sure that's a disguise. You climb onto the stage, but she keeps singing, looking at you quite worriedly. You walk behind her and lean into her ear. "You're under arrest," you say, putting the jar to her back and starting to suck her in. But then she smiles and stops singing, then elbows you in the head with a cry of "GET THEM!"

Everyone in the room leaps at you and Hiei and you jump into the air while the woman starts running away.

"Oh, come ON!" you shout, kicking off your shoes and beginning to run after her.

Someone jumps on your back, and another grabs your legs, and you try to push them away without hurting them. Hiei's running after her, too, also barefoot (those shoes were probably uncomfortable.), until you hear a funny noise from outside. You run after them and find Hiei on the wall, pressed to it by what has to be eight other people, and you punch her in the face.

"Bitch! Hands off!" you shout. She falls, and everyone pinning Hiei does, too. She looks up at you and you point the jar at her, trying to ignore that you're getting more and more people on your back. Someone tackles your knees, someone else grabs your whole upper body, and they manage to take you down. The weight of everyone on you makes your ribs start to hurt, but you try to breathe as slowly as possible, until she's sucked in completely. But more and more people are piling on you.

"Hiei!" you yelp with what remains of your breath. The person below you is going cold, crushed to death by the weight, and the person on top of you isn't breathing.

He grabs your hand and pulls you out, but you both have to run back through the night club, until you're well into town, too far away to be chased, and you look at the communicator.

"Okay, Koenma..." you growl.

"Do you have her?"

"Yes. Now, do you know how to free the humans?"

"Oh. Just cut off the woman's energy from all of them. Or just suck in all her energy."

"Oh, you suck," you mumble, turning back. Hiei starts following you. You notice that the only thing wrong with your clothes is that you've got dirty feet, now. You don't know why you care, other than the chance to return it before you have to wear it again.

You look at the hoards, who are all sitting at the tables like good little puppets, having moved there since you trapped her. They, not knowing what to do and being shut off from their master went back to what they were doing, even if they didn't know why. And one by one, you start sucking their energy out. Then you leave, very tired.


	55. Dream of Fear, Nightmare of Fate

_Fear-Induced Dream_

"My energy needs to learn to concentrate itself," you say. "I'm already tired."

"Hn."

You lean on Hiei's back, putting your head down on his shoulder and walking along, very tired. And he doesn't make you get off, to your surprise. He doesn't seem to mind.

"Egh," you mutter.

He makes a laughish sound, but you ignore it as he leads you back to your house. It's not far.

"I'm sleepy."

"Then go to sleep."

"We gotta get home, though, and I don't think this dress will take itself off when we get there."

"Hn," he says. You close your eyes and take in his scent again, smiling. Sleep starts creeping in on your mind, but you fight it off, until you can't anymore.

**Hiei**

The weight on your back gets limper and starts to slide down as her feet start to slow. You turn around, gently maneuvering her into your arms and you start to carry her. She wraps her arms around your neck unconsciously, and puts herself close to your chest, almost letting you ignore the fact that your clothes aren't made for you. You look at her again, and you see the work that her fellow females have put into her face, and you smile almost invisibly. There's an extra curl that's hanging into her face, probably put there intentionally, and her lips are bright red. And you wonder what it would be like to kiss them of your own accord, and without the influence of alcohol. You've felt them against your mouth before, it would be so nice to do it again. So you do, very, very carefully, lifting her up to your face and pressing your lips very carefully against hers. She smiles very slightly in her sleep.

And even farther you walk, and eventually, you get curious. Her face looks troubled, almost, and her voice is working very slightly, though no words have made it out, yet. So you enter her mind, and look around in it, until you find the section of it that is dreaming, and you watch.

You see her resting on the ground, as if asleep or dead, in a field of grass, until an odd creature moves to her and picks her up, looking at her and at her face. The creature doesn't have a face, you realize, not a permanent one, but it starts carrying her prone form away. So you follow, naturally, until she's handed off to... You? The odd creature with a humanoid body, but no permanent features, or even skin, or blood, hands her limp figure to a dream version of Hiei Jaganshi, who looks at her and smiles very carefully and puts her down and sits next to her and watches her sleep. But then the sky starts to grow dark, and it starts to spit out hailstones, and she sits up, suddenly, startling both versions of you. She smiles at the dream version of you, before it slumps down dead and is drawn up like a strange puppet. The strange creature reappears and starts to chain her down to the ground, even though she fights, for a minute, until she suddenly settles. The collapsed dream-you is slowly taken apart by the weird thing, and he feeds it/your body to her, slowly but surely, bit by bit, until there's nothing but a pile of bones left. She lays on the ground, for a minute, then starts to fight the chains.

Suddenly, she's free, and she's on all fours, and she throws up two wriggling lumps that start screaming and turn into children, each with black hair and red eyes. She kneels and picks them up and cradles them, before she's thrown back and the children fall to the ground, screaming and kicking and wriggling.

And then the creature bends down and picks both of the children up, cradling them gently.

"Beautiful," it says, kissing her. She is crying bloody tears, suddenly, and starts to get up, but there's a glass wall between them that she pounds on, trying to get to her children. She falls back against the wall. Dream-you has been reduced to a skeleton in pieces, but it stands up and pulls the sword up. She looks up at the skeleton and lets her head fall. The skeleton stabs her, and she wakes up.

**You**

"I'm alive... I'm alive..." you whisper. "I don't want to be alive... That was a dream, please, please, say it was a dream."

"Yes, it was a dream," he says. You push you door open, then go up to your room and he lets you down to the floor. You go to your dresser and promptly start to undress, ignoring whether or not Hiei's there. You pull on a t-shirt and wipe your face off with something on the dresser, then crawl onto the bed, still sweating from the terror of that dream and beginning to sob into your pillow. He watches you, and he touches your arm, and you grab is and don't let go as he tries to leave.

"Don't leave me... please don't leave me..." you whisper. You can almost swear you hear him curse, but he doesn't leave. He just tries to pull his arm away, but you don't let it go, so he sits down on your bed. You despise that you would let yourself show such weakness, being dependant, no matter how temporarily, on another demon for emotional support. Especially Hiei.

"I'm sorry, Hiei, I really am," you hiss. "I'm sorry. I'm so..."

"Scared," he finishes. "I know. You're shaking."

"I'm sorry, Hiei, I can't explain, that... those... images, those _ideas_ scare me so badly... I don't want to be alone..." The truth is that you don't mind being alone; you just wish he would stay in your presence.

He doesn't say anything, but he pats your hand very softly. You're glad you can't see him. He's probably pissed off at you. You sigh, comforted by his agreeing to stay, and you settle into your bed sheets.

"Oh, yeah, the woman, she's on my dresser, I put her there after I took the dress off," you say, pointing with the other hand as the crying begins to clear up.

"I heard," he says. He shifts on the bed, and lies down next to you. You don't want to ask why, because he'll leave.

"Tired?" you suggest, giggling slightly.

"Yes," he says. You smile and peck his cheek, and settle into your pillow. His face's temperature rises even as you press your lips to it.

"Thank you," you say. "I'm sorry to keep you here, I was... I'm... I'm sorry."

He smirks. You wonder if you're still dreaming, or if he's been killed and this is some sort of reproduction of him, but you don't act on your suspicions. You just smile at him. He kisses your lips, and you kiss him back, and one of the two of you pulls him on top of you, and you start unbuttoning his shirt, while he helps.

The next thing you take into account more than the pleasure and a noticeable pain when he let himself into you, is that he's over you, and you're both working against each other at once, and you feel new warmth enter you at the same time as ecstasy and a terrible fear. He sits back, eyes wide, and you both slump before bristling up with your whole bodies. In an instant, he's dressed and gone, and you're running to the bathroom to take a shower.


	56. What the Fuck?

_What the Fuck?_

You swear to all powers that be that Koenma will die by your hands every day since the date-thing. He knew you two were fated, he had to have known that that could and possibly enough happen, and you're still semi-sure he did it on purpose. You don't know if anything's come of it, yet, and you're very worried, but all you can do is wait.

According to what details you have summoned up from what little memory of that you have left, both of you kind of forgot what you were doing, and with who. Something came over you, literally.

You remember bits of the night before and after you two… did it. But nothing while you were in the process of the act. All you really need to remember is that very strange feeling of warmth inside you that wasn't his flesh. You enjoyed it, sure. But that's not the scary part- you can't get pregnant on your own. And the fact that the two of you are fated to have kids of your own makes this all the more terrifying.

You don't tell anyone, and, from the looks of it, neither does Hiei. One of the boys is usually around you to appease your rage, or at least distract you enough that you don't go seek Koenma out for murder, purely by chance- Yusuke decides to have you train him, Kurama's been entertaining your mother as a houseguest, which leaves you to cook, and Kuwabara keeps bothering you with how to get better at video games. Hiei doesn't talk to you, much, other than when he visits your room at night, and even when he's visiting, neither of you talk at all, much less about the idiocy of a few nights ago.

You think Koenma might know. He hasn't called you in a while. He doesn't, for that matter, until about a week after you and Hiei made your biggest mistake.

The communicator makes a noise and you pull it out. You were sleeping, dammit.

"I have a mission for you five, could you get out here, please?" Koenma asks calmly. You grumble darkly, and you creep through your house to its portal. Once again, you're in a dark mood, and you wonder why your mother couldn't have let someone use you as stem cell research.

The other four are waiting in the room when you fall into the room, and you land neatly on a chair, glowering.

"What's wrong with her?" Kuwabara asks Yusuke. You hold your arm out in his direction and thump some air at him, having picked the idea up from Toguro, and he staggers with a yelp of intense pain.

"Kali, please don't injure your team," Koenma sighs. "We have a problem developing in the Makai. Not much information, beyond the fact that he's threatening that he knows who Kiraa is, and where she is, and there is a small problem with that. We need you to go kill him. We can't have him talking."

"Why is it okay for the good guys to come out on top by using a ladder of dead bodies, but it's a bad thing for the bad guys to do it?" you grumble, staring at a scar on your arm.

"Because the bad guys use smaller rungs and need more bodies, plus they generally decide to replace a few rungs more often than we do," Koenma responds, straightening his papers. You step through the portal.


	57. Funfair of DOOM

_Funfair of Doom!_

"Why the FUCK do we have to do this?" you growl as you punch the idiot that claimed he could stop all of you in the face. For a guard, he's not much of a fighter. Kuwabara wanted to fight him, but you didn't feel like waiting. Plus to hear someone screaming was frighteningly pleasant.

You step on something that triggers a series of clicking noises as you leave. The ceiling almost immediately drops.

"Aw. Come on. Dammit," you grumble as you run through the hall to a room where the ceilings and floors are no longer moving. Unfortunately, the others aren't as fast as you, except Hiei, and you and Hiei both have to go drag the others back. Kuwabara almost gets his foot crushed, because he freaked out and made you drop him at the last minute.

"Note to Kuwabara. NO MORE DOING THAT!" you shout, punching him in the head. He holds his head and skulks down the hall as you all walk down it together.

Someone makes a scared noise, and you turn to see that Yusuke has a very sharp spear jutting out of a wall at him. He's pressed himself up against the wall and he's not breathing, to the best of his ability, to prevent impaling himself. You reach over, break the spear off, and pull him along by his wrist. He starts walking ahead of you, and, one by one, you push all of them ahead of you so you can see what happens to them, and might be able to help. Hiei is closest to you, Kuwabara is in front of him, Yusuke's in front of Kuwabara, and Kurama's in front of all of you, keeping his eyes out for traps.

"What I wouldn't give for a deck of cards," you grumble after what feels like days, but is only half an hour, of walking down the SAME FUCKING HALLWAY. There has been no change. You know that you can take one step per block on the floor if you stretch just right. When you take the right steps to use one foot per block, the torches along the wall are eight steps apart. If you don't, they're ten steps apart. The ceiling tiles have a crack every other one. Everything around you has fallen into a pattern.

"Kurama... Have you noticed that... Umm..." you start to say, trying to find words to express your concern.

"The whole hall is the same image repeated over and over and over?"

"Yeah. Why would they do that?"

"I think that, perhaps, they are trying to lull us into a false sense of security, or bore us to not paying attention."

"So what tactics could they be using once we are in this false sense of security, or just not paying attention?"

"If those are their intentions, I can only imagine that they are aiming for a sneak attack."

"Whee. I hate sneak attacks. I am terrible at dealing with sneak attacks."

"Odd, you'd think that you could deal with them well, considering how well all your senses are."

"Yeah, well, I can feel out, or listen for someone I know is coming. I have to be listening to hear it, otherwise I just miss it entirely."

"If one of us carries you, can you listen for anything?"

"Maybe."

You don't get a chance to figure it out. Something falls out of thin air in front of you. As soon as you see it, you shoot at it, but it lands on Kurama and picks him up and hauls him into the air. You get a better look at it. It looks like a gigantic spider.

It's crawling along the ceiling, but Kurama isn't making any sort of noise, until, suddenly, a HUGE plant grows out of the ceiling and grabs the spider. You see Kurama clinging to the plant as it eats the spider, but when Kurama falls to the ground after the plant wilts, he doesn't have the strength to remain upright anymore. He staggers for a second.

"It... ate my energy... the spider..." he reports as he kneels, panting.

You move up next to him and help him up, and Kuwabara helps support him. They start to move, but you stop them, grabbing Kuwabara's wrist and putting your hand on Kurama's back. At first, he cries out, and Kuwabara helps him pull away.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"Trust me, hold him still."

You put your hand back on his back and, suddenly, he cries out again, but he jumps away of his own accord, and he's trembling slightly.

"Sorry. Too much?"

"Just a little, I'll be fine," he murmurs, brushing himself off and biting his tongue to stop his rattling teeth.

"What'd you do?"

"I don't use the same kind of energy Kurama does very often, but I have it, so I gave him some. It'll probably make him a little sick, because I'm not him, but it's better than staggering along."

You look up at where the spider came from, trying to see if there's any sort of opening it could have come out of, but you don't see anything.

"It was weak. Expendable. The spider's meant to slow us down and take our energy and weaken us. The guy we're dealing with probably isn't a fighter, he's just really smart."

"Wow, Kali, you're really good at this when you can see," Kuwabara says dumbly.

You hit him.

You all keep walking. This time, you're all walking in a clump. Hiei's dragging behind, and Kurama, for security, is in the middle. You hear a loud noise, like a shriek, suddenly, and you look behind you. About halfway up the wall, Hiei is wrapped in the forelegs of another spider, and his leg is in its mouth. He's drawn his sword, and he's impaled its face, which, you assume, was the shriek, but it doesn't die, immediately. It falls onto its back, dragging Hiei with it, and it wriggles on the ground, wrestling with Hiei and its own death at the same time, until Hiei gets sick of it and rips his sword up and out of its thorax. (I think that's right.)

"Hiei!" you call, running up and putting your toe through the spider's head as you help him up. He's weakened, too. Apparently, they use their mouths to suck out energy. Which is good- the alternative was poisoning his prey, and that would fuck you over pretty hard.

He gets to his feet and glares sleepily at you. You put your hand on his back and his eyes go big, but he otherwise doesn't react, and he takes a firm hold on your shirt because of the shock of the energy entering his body, and then he has to turn around and try to hold back his being sick. Kurama, however, seeing Hiei struggle with it, gets sick, and he flees semi-hurriedly up the hall to the other side of the spider, and he throws up, then returns. You hand him some gum, then offer some to Hiei, who takes some.

"Yusuke and Kuwabara to go. You better hope they get you before they get me, because I use your kinds, and I'll probably need it."

"You should travel in the middle, then, Kali," Kurama says simply. You make a face.

"Do I have to?"

"It would be wise."

You grumble and walk into the middle of the little circle that the boys have made.

Yusuke is, fortunately, next. He deals with the spider by himself. He is up front, and the spider leaps out of the wall and pins him to the opposite wall. Yusuke punches it, but not before it bites his neck and clings. You have to pry the dead spider's body off Yusuke and give him your energy. He screams in pain, though, and hits you when you help him. He, naturally, apologizes profusely when you get mad at him, then he walks next to you in the circle, probably in an attempt to express his apology a little more.

You or Kuwabara is next. And then Kuwabara gets hit, and you have officially run out of energy that is any good in a fight, as far as your training goes, and you are tired already. You never realized how much energy the boys had.

You wind up lagging behind before you realize it, being a little tired from the strange lack of energy, but no one else seems to notice that you're behind all four of them. That's not very nice, you think, glaring at them for being so insensitive, but then you notice that Hiei keeps looking over his shoulder discreetly, and Kurama's been listening to your every move. You smile a little and keep walking, wishing you could move a little faster than you are.

As you're deciding to try to catch up, something jumps down, grabs you, and you feel a hard knock on your head, just enough to knock you out.


	58. We Are So Fucked

Hello again, readers.

So. I'm working on a Kurama story. Dominantly out of boredom, and I wanted to add a little bit of change to my Hiei routine. I wrote a Yuusuke one, once (It was an order from a friend. She has this high pitched voice, you see, so when she screams at me, she causes intense pain.) and I'm not posting it 'cos I was REALLY half-assing, and you can tell.

But anyway, I'm kind of looking for ideas for Kurama-story. I've got the girl in mind ((Yes, another canon romance, bite me.)), but I don't know exactly what I can do to them, because… Well, Kurama would be a lot easier to be romantic with than Hiei.

Suggestions?

* * *

_Did Koenma Happen to Mention How Screwed You Are?_

**Yusuke**

"Where'd she go?!" Kuwabara asks.

"I don't know, but the sooner we find the bad guy, the sooner we can find her," you answer, starting to run down the hall. Kurama calls after you, but it's too late, and you trip over another trap that catches your leg and knocks you down, just as another spear flies overhead. You cover your head and press yourself to the floor.

Hiei's rapid footsteps sound through the hall and he grabs your collar and jumps back with you, only just saving your ass from getting impaled on two more spears that jut out of the floor where you were just laying. You wonder if he crushed your esophagus in the process by grabbing your collar, but it is the thought that counts.

"Useless," Hiei growls. You glare at him, and all four of you start running again, dodging the traps you set off, until you hit a dead end.

"Aw, great, Urameshi, now what?!" Kuwabara demands.

"Like this is my fault! Kali'd help us the hell out of here,"

"Well, she's not here, is she, Detective," Hiei growls maliciously, "and I don't see any way out of here, someone is going to have to figure this out."

"Hey, lay off, I didn't get us in this mess, this is Kali's bullshit to deal with, not mine, so get off my back!"

"Will you guys shut up for a few minutes!? Damn, it's been five minutes since she's been gone, and you're already fighting!" Kuwabara shouts.

"Mind your own damn business!" you and Hiei shout at the same time at Kuwabara.

"Hey, shut up!"

"Will you all be quiet!" Kurama suddenly shouts. You all stop and look at him. He's standing in the same spot he stopped running in, and he's apparently listening intently.

"God damn, do you always do that?" you hear Kali's voice very faintly demand.

"Kali!"

"No, it's fucking Hera, mortal queen of the gods!" she replies, obviously sarcastically. "I'm in the floor below you, in a cell."

"How do you know you're below us?"

"I'm completely deaf, Yusuke, there's no way for me to know, I was guessing!"

"Well then what the hell-"

"Kuwabara, if you finish that statement, I will kill you."

"Kali, what kind of energies do you have left?"

"The kind... Well... llllleeeemmmmmmeee seeeeee..." you hear her say. "They were dumb enough to leave me the kind where I can be REALLY FUCKIN' PISSED OFF AT STUPID ASS QUESTIONS, KURAMA, WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!?!?!?! You're supposed to be the SMART one!!!"

Even through the stones, her voice echoes around you all, and you swear that the rocks crack.

And then the floor falls out from under all of you.

**Mysterious man**!

Kiraa is a very beautiful girl when she sleeps. Less beautiful than when she is awake and angry, but still beautiful when she's asleep. "Bastard!" she snorts as she comes to.

Then she gets to her feet and glares around, kicking at the walls of her cell gently. She touches lightly at the door and her whole body tenses up and her hair stands out, but then she steps back. Then she notices the screen on the wall with the camera, and she glares at the camera. "Yeah, and who the fuck are you? I remember this bullshit, but you got smarter since last time. The door's got sutras all over it. Keepin' me from knockin' it down, again!"

"You remember me!"

"Sorta. Gimme a name, I'll give you all the details you want," she growls lightly. You smile.

"Grio Waisuki." ((GREE-oh Why-SKEE))

"Five year old case, I arrested you for... Shit, something to do with sadism, I think. Torturing random demons, wasn't it, for fun, and starting to infiltrate the Reikai and kidnapping the psychics, which is why I had to go arrest you."

"Ah, you remember me," you tease, feeling delighted that she's trapped and helpless, now, instead of you.

"Yes. I do. Fucker. Lemme go. ... Oh, shit." She pauses. You look at the other screens in the room and giggle to see that the boys are fighting in the hall above her, and she can hear it. Then she tries to help them. She presses herself to the floor when the ceiling sinks in, and then gets back up.

"Prick. What's going to happen to them?"

"You'll notice other screens in a second, you'll see them. Each of them has his own cell. Each will be dealt with, one by one."

**You**

"Why them? They had nothing to do with you, they didn't even work for Koenma when I caught you!"

"Please, Kiraa! You know as well as I do why I want them, you're a very smart young lady!"

"I quit getting smarter about the time I hit four feet tall, now I'm just getting colder."

"I see, pretty one... I'm keeping them as a form of torture to you... I remember you let yourself get caught, and you tolerated all physical pain... Then used it to snap and capture us... Very smart, that was, you knew we wouldn't kill you, or hurt you too much if we knew what that pain did..."

"That reminds me-" you mention after a second- "Why weren't you going to kill me?"

"If I recall, we weren't going to kill you in order to use you as a bribe for Koenma, but we couldn't get you to behave long enough to hold still, so we were torturing you until you agreed to behave, or simply passed out from the pain, seeing as we could not drug you."

"Ah. Oh, yeah, now I remember."

"Yes. What do you think of their cells?"

"I think you did a very good job." You look at the screen next to Grio's and judge the rooms. He deserves this, it's been five years, and he really is very smart. "No doors, which will definitely cause problems with Hiei and Yusuke... No openings whatsoever, right?"

"Very good."

"Kurama probably already has the room figured out completely, but I dunno if he knows how to get out of it. How thick is the metal?

"Four feet. Yours would be, too, but I had to put you there to make sure they stayed in one place long enough. I was about to switch you to that cell."

"Really? How do intend to do that?"

"I designed this entire half of the castle. And I've been planning on getting you from day one of prison."

"Ah. So, tell me- how? And why, of course. I understand the want to kill me, you probably share that with everyone that's ever been caught by me. And how'd you escape?"

As you speak, your room lifts up or something, and you lose your footing. The whole gravity of the room shifts to the wall, and you stagger, then sit and brace yourself in a corner, until the gravity shifts heavily to the floor, again, and you're thrown to it. "Well. Are you quite done?" you ask, glaring at the screen.

"Yes."

"Very good. So. Why go to all this trouble, finding me couldn't be that hard, smart as you are."

"Oh. Well, my darling, naturally, I had to go into hiding after you took my copy to prison, and I became obsessed with you. At first it was the revenge for ruining me, but then it became more of a passion for all that power and beauty and strength, coupled with the adorable mercenary personality for such a pretty child... You were so young, then, but you've grown even more beautiful since then…."

"Great, so you're in love with me?"

"Yes," he agrees. He smiles at you darkly. You glance at the boys and make sure that they're okay. "I do know that you're stalling," he finally mentions. "But I do so enjoy that you would entertain a conversation with me... Besides, I need to weaken your morale enough that I won't feel bad about killing the one I love."

"That makes sense." You're being sarcastic- something about being in a bad mood does that to you.

"What I fell in love with was your power and your amazing personality. And without your pride or your power, I will feel no shame or pain in ending your life."

"So you haven't done that yet because…?"

"I have to make you suffer, my love."

"How are you going to do that?"

He laughs and you see him turn his attention to something to the right, and, with his free hand, he points to the left, which is in the direction that the screens showing your friends are in.

You see Kurama hit the wall when something that looks like very hard air hits him in the chest. He staggers, holding his hand to his heart, and he cries out in pain as the... air... hits him again, this time in the head, making him slump against the wall You clench your fist and swing your gaze to Grio's screen.

"Hmm..."

"Asshole!"

"Ahh... Well... What would you do if I started to cook one of the others?"

You turn your back and go sit against the wall, but you can't help but watch as Yusuke starts to sweat uneasily and, eventually, removes his shirts and his shoes, until he finally sits down against the wall and has to get off because his back started to make a hissing sound. You cover your ears to shut out his screams, but you can't force yourself to look away, until you see Hiei's image jump.

And then, Hiei's room suddenly has bits of paper raining down on him. He starts to cut at them, shutting out what hurts, you guess, until his sword is completely wrapped up, and, slowly but surely, so is he. He staggers and falls to his knees.

"HIEI!" you shriek, punching the wall next to Grio's screen. "Stop it, you bastard!"

"Oooh, found which one she likes... So, tell me, how much do you feel for the fire demon?"

"I don't feel for him!" you shout quickly, not at all feigning anything too well. Not that it matters, shouting his name wasn't too much of a hint.

"He'll be getting special treatment..."

As soon as he finishes that statement, he starts to ignore you. A spider drops out of the thin air and pins you. It bites your neck while you're too weak to fight it, and it disappears again after it finishes. You retreat to a corner of your cell and stare at the boys, wishing futilely that you could free them. Yusuke starts dancing on the floor on top of his kicked-off shoes, the soles of which have begun to melt. Hiei is in a small ball in the corner of his room with his eyes wide open and his mouth bleeding from where his teeth are sunk into the flesh of his lips, and Kurama's getting slammed into the walls and floor and ceiling while Kuwabara is rolling on the floor, holding his head and kicking and screaming.

"LET THEM GO! IT'S ME YOU HATE, THEY DIDN'T DO IT!"

He turns his attention back to you and it starts to rain sutras. You feel an incredible pain attack you from each one, and you hardly stifle the screams before they crumple and disintegrate. "Do what you want to me... just let them go... Please, let them go..." you whisper.

He taps the camera tauntingly, and more sutras start to rain. As they stick to you, you get stiff, and can't move anymore. As the one attaches itself to your head, you are looking at the boys, and you can't move your eyes anymore or blink, and you're stuck watching. You can't breathe, either, but that's not something you care about right now, and you struggle to turn your eyes, but you can't.

"How does it feel, sweetheart?"

A tear falls out of your eye.

"Oh... poor baby..." he whispers, grinning maniacally.

You make a screaming sound through your gritted teeth, but since you can't move your mouth, you can't curse at him like you want to.

He finally sits back in his chair, and the sutras fall away from your head, somehow.

"I'll let them go if they agree to leave you with me," he finally says. "If they're not so righteous that they'd rather save themselves than you, then I think I can stand them enough to free them..."

"Whatever... let them go..." You're afraid they won't leave you, but, maybe, if they know that he's using them to get to you, they might submit to what self-preservation they have left.

You hear your own voice echo at the speaker below the screens about halfway through the sentence. "Boys, can you hear me?"


	59. Testicular Fortitude

Hey! -dances around, waves arms-

I know that you're over here and all, and I know that the other one doesn't sound as good, but I want you to read it anyway. I want more reviews on that one, 'cos I tried new stuff, and I'm older than I was when I wrote this one, so the other one's better-written, and I want you to go read it! Please? -attempts to look cute, fails, tries puppy face, fails. Then looks spectacularly frustrated- Goddammit. Just go read the fucker!

-R.F.

_Testicular Fortitude_

"Boys, can you hear me?"

All of their heads jerk to the north corner of the rooms, but Yusuke's the first to respond. "Kali!"

Kuwabara makes a slight noise before finally pleading. "Kali, what's going on, make it stop, please!"

"Hngh... Kali... Can you help us?" Kurama asks.

From Hiei, you get a strained "Hn".

"Look, just agree to let me handle this, and you can leave, okay?"

"Can you handle it?"

"I got it. Please. Go."

"Why are you still trapped?"

"I've been powerless since the spider got me."

"Kali..."

"You have twenty seconds, Kiraa."

"Please. I can handle what he gives me, but I can't handle what he does to you. Please, just do this for all of us and leave..."

"I can't leave you!" Yusuke and Kuwabara say at the same time.

Hiei responds with a forceful "Hn!", and Kurama shakes his head.

"Yusuke, he's _cooking you alive_. _LEAVE_."

"I'm fine..."

"Tell that to the boils on your feet. OUT! He's hurting you to get to me!"

"Fine, but if you die, I swear to god, they'll have to rebuild spirit world for what I'll do to you!"

"I'll leave..." Kuwabara says. "But you better get out of this!"

"Kurama, listen to reason," you begin.

"There is no reason in this." Even though he's hurt, he still sounds angry and distracted more than hurt.

"You're hurting me by staying. Go."

He, slowly, nods. You look at Hiei, who is still covered in sutras and shaking in pain.

"Hiei--"

"No."

"Five seconds, Kiraa."

"Hiei, now!"

"No."

"Three seconds..."

"--Idiot!"

"I won't leave."

"Please!"

The two of you stare at each other ((Evidently, they've been offered screens for you, too)) both frozen and covered in sutras. Yusuke's cell has a wall fall down, and Kurama and Kuwabara's walls fold down. All three of them flee. You look at Hiei. He's still glaring at you. A tear gem rests on the ground next to his foot, and you know that your own tears have created a puddle near your feet.

More and more and more sutras and curses land on the both of you, but neither of you moves. He stares at you, and you can't take your eyes off him. His sword is still in his hand, useless, wide to the right in his right hand, and he's kneeling. You've taken to a half-curled position in the corner with your arms tucked to your chest, fists clenched. Neither of you moves much more than the slight tremors of pain that have rocked through the both of you, and the blood leaking out of his lips from the cut his teeth have given them.

You try to turn when the door to your room opens, and one of Hiei's cell's walls falls ((Try to say that ten times fast, and do you know how hard it was to type that correctly? I stared at that for ten minutes to make it right.)), and the sutras eventually fall away. You and Hiei both stay still, staring at the new openings in the rooms, but not going through them, yet.

"Come through that hall."

"Why?"

"You will see."

Hiei goes down his hall, and you start following the path. A spider, along the way, gets you and drains you again of your power, but you keep walking.

You arrive in a hall, hundred feet wide, very dimly lit, with Grio waiting at the end of it. He's got Hiei near him, as well.

"I'll kill Koenma," you mumble.

"Only if you figure out how to before I do," Hiei warns.

Grio laughs. "Well. I take it you two know each other well, so there is no need for introduction. So, now, a decision will be made. I want to kill Kiraa, but you won't leave her to me to do so, Master Hiei... So... I suggest a fight."

You feel rage bubbling in your innards, and you wish that the surge in your throat was energy, instead of just hate.

"Oh, really," Hiei asks, clenching his fist and glaring. He lunges at Grio, but Grio's even faster ((Can you imagine that??)), and he grabs your wrist and drags you in front of him. Hiei stops just at your nose.

"You didn't wait for me to name fighters..." Grio teases.

"Forgive me for assuming you were man enough to fight me yourself, rather than sending a powerless woman to fight for you," Hiei snorts in return.

"I am not lacking in testicular fortitude, as you think. I just hate it when people interrupt me," he responds. You feel an intense pain in your wrist, and you cry out and punch him in the face. He staggers, and you yelp as something connects to your nose and makes it ache terribly, before sneezing a few times.

"Oh, yes... Thank you for demonstrating, Kiraa. You see, this is a little invention of mine." He gestures happily and proudly at a golden bracelet. You look at your own wrist and see a golden band around it, similar to his, only skin tight, and tracing the skin perfectly, looking more like gold paint than a bracelet. "Any damage done to me is not done to me. She feels and takes every bit of damage." He pinches his own arm, and you yelp. The skin develops a tiny bruise.

"Great."

Hiei growls and punches him, without thinking. Your face gets a bruise on the jaw. You cry out.

"Dammit, Hiei!"

"Hn."

Grio runs at Hiei, surprisingly faster than you expected, and Hiei suffers a direct punch in the gut, at least one, and slides back, then suffers a nice, firm wall to the back when Grio gores him, which hurts even you when he pounds himself into the wall, even if Hiei does make a semi-decent cushion.

"AGH!" you yelp when Hiei's knee accidentally connects with Grio. You stumble back and hit the floor hard. But the fall doesn't hurt you. You watch Grio. He tensed up when you fell. Your eyes go wide, and you pound yourself into the wall to see what it does. You should have dislocated your shoulder, but nothing happens to you. Grio, however, screams in pain and clutches at his shoulder.

"Hiei! Hit me! Just stab me, and it'll be done with!"

Hiei looks at you with bigger-than-normal eyes.

"Come on!"

He throws Grio against the wall. It hurts your head, and you sit down, holding the back of your head. He runs at you, but Grio tackles him, and, suddenly...

All you can do or say or think is something along the lines of...

"Ouch..." you grunt. Hiei runs to you after he pulls his sword out of Grio's chest. As he gets to you, he forces the sword clean through your chest, but he then freezes and slumps.

You dodged just enough to let him stab empty flesh. The bracelet on his wrist had gone unnoticed until you saw it glint in the light. Hiei slumps against the wall and puts his hand to the wound on his chest, looking pained.

Grio moves over to the two of you, where you sit, and he bends down and kisses your forehead lightly.

"Kiraa... Sweetheart... you have no idea how beautiful you really are... Even dying..."

"P... brickch..." you hiss. Hiei forces his sword through Grio's head, no longer seeing any bracelets.

Grio falls down and lays still. Hiei sits next to you slowly.

"Kali..."

It takes a little bit of effort, but you strain to clear the blood out of your throat, and you burble and spit until you can speak. "Don't worry about it, it's not your fault. He's faster."

"He was. You haven't got long, have you?"

"Don't worry about it. You've got at least as long as me. Missed the heart. I dodged. A little. "

"How long have you got?"

"I dunno. I think you got my lung…. But... if they don't find us... we're both gonna bite the big one..."

* * *

**Hiei**

You sit in silence for a while. She leans over, suddenly, and kisses your cheek. You swing your gaze to her. She looks sleepy.

"Stay conscious."

"I will... I'm just... sleepy..." she mumbles as she looks at you with watering eyes as she coughs and whines unintentionally.

A little more silence. She looks at you, only her eyes are a little more focused than before. "So. Any regrets?"

"Even if I had any, I wouldn't tell you." You pause, then, simply to help her keep consciousness, you ask, "You?"

"Never found my mother..." she hums. "Reminds me... why... not..." she pauses and takes a very wet breath, then stops for a second. You fight with the panic that seizes you, and your eyes go wide, and you twist so that you might be able to help her.

"Breathe!"

She finishes taking in the breath, and she spits blood out. "I am, I am... But... why... not... tell... Yukina?"

A mouthful of blood makes it up your throat in your surprise as you exhale. You spit it out. "She doesn't deserve me for her brother... She deserves better. Would you want a criminal for a brother?"

"You... must not... realize... how... good... you are..." she teases lightly. "My brother… _is_ a… a criminal… and… I lo… love him… anyway…." She pauses to cough and spit out the blood. "I... wannn..."

"Kali!" You grab her shoulder and shake her lightly. Her head flops gently, until she puts the back of her head against the wall and smiles weakly.

"I... sorry... s..." she mumbles. "Sleepy…."

You shake her harder, and she hits the wall, which damages you, but you hardly pay attention. "_Kali!_"

"Can't... Haha... haha... I... love... you... Hiei... even... if... you do...don't... want... me... to..."

"Shut up and save your strength," you demand, letting her fall against the wall as you fall against it yourself. It's hard to shut out the panic and pain in you, but you hold it in as well as you can.

You take the bracelet off and throw it across the room, and then you take her getting-colder hand and squeeze it. The bracelet on her arm disappears.

She pulls you to her very slowly and carefully, then arches her neck up and kisses your lips. You kiss her back, tasting her blood and saliva as your tongues meet briefly, and you sit back and hit the wall harder than you mean to, making her cough and spit more blood up. She turns her head back to you, and you can't help but stare as she smiles and laughs at you.

"You... should... see... your... face..." You reflexively yawn as the lack of air starts to get to you, and you cough. She giggles. "Cute... wh'n... y'do... tha'..."

You grip her hand between the two of you and wait quietly. She puts her head on your shoulder, and you try to keep consciousness, but eventually fail, and everything goes dark.


	60. What?

_...What?_

You hear someone walking, and you're too tired to look. You're dying anyway, so it doesn't matter. Someone runs toward you.

"Kali... first..." you burble.

Kali comes to and looks at Botan as the grim reaper puts her hand on Kali's shoulder. "What? Did I- Aaaggghhh! Nope, not dead," she says as she groans and falls back. The scream makes every muscle in your entire body tense up, but then you settle again. She gives your hand a reassuring squeeze. "Ouch."

"Kali, sweetheart, we need you to be really easy on moving," Botan says lightly as she moves over to you and starts to heal you. You begin to feel better, and you try to get up, but you can't. Kali tries to get up, too, but she staggers and falls back down.

"Kali, I told you to be still!"

"Stop shouting before I kill you," Kali barks. "You're acting like one of us is gonna die."

"You might if you don't hold still and let me heal you!"

She holds still and lets Botan heal her a little more, before she sighs and picks you up with one arm over her shoulder, and she helps you help her carry you out of the room.

"Why can't we leave here through a portal?"

"There's a really long walk from here... The castle is designed for Kali's capture, so portals don't work for about half of it."

You make a face. Kali chuckles a little and pats your back. "This is a switch."

"Quit walking so damn hard."

"You know, you're a lot heavier than your height would make you seem."

"Shut up."

* * *

A week later, Spirit World calls you. The same morning you realize that you've missed your period for a little while. Botan and Koenma are waiting for you in his office.

"Kali, why didn't you tell us?"

"Tell you what?" you bark, already irritable with the fear that's settled itself somewhere in your upper abdomen, lower chest.

"You're pregnant."

"Well, I didn't know for sure until this morning, thank you for confirming my fears, I think I'll leave, now," you bark, starting to turn and leave.

"Kali, wait. Whose are they?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? You found out I was pregnant before I even knew for sure, can't you find out whose it is? ….What do you mean, 'they'?"

"No, we can't find out whose they are. Botan sensed them when she was healing you. And by 'they', I mean that there is more than one. There're two left. Twins, with energy enough to sense already, if you pay close enough attention. Now whose are they? And how far along are you?"

"What do you mean, 'two left'?"

"Well, initially, there were triplets. One died last night."

The initial shock is that you were pregnant to begin with. The second shock is that there were triplets. The third, and worst, shock is that one died.

A tear makes its way out of your eye, and you have to fight the urge to cry.

"Kali? Whose are they, and how far along are you?"

"Mine. And that's none of your goddamned business."

"Kali, please."

"Fuck you. And keep this quiet. Tell anyone, and I'll kill you all. Got me? Koenma, do not think I am afraid to go to prison, I'm talking to you, too. And do your best to make sure Enma doesn't find out, I don't want to know what he'll do to me if he finds out. He's already pitched his bitchfit about my existence and my fate."

"Yes, Ma'am," Botan and Keonma agree. Botan bows as you leave the room. Before the door closes, Koenma shouts something out at you.

"No missions!"

You don't know why, but the fact that you lost one, even though there are two left, bothers you. Apparently, they're okay. According to their reaction, anyway. And you start to wonder if they're the ones that were prophesied.

You go back to your world and sit on the computer and look up what happens when one of a set of triplets die, mainly out of concern for the ones left.

You catch something about bleeding, and possibly harming the other children, but you figure Botan must have fixed it when she healed you- you hadn't felt anything….

After confirming that the other two would be okay, you go lay down and you go to sleep.


	61. Bad Feelings

Hey. Tell me-what would you rather read?

A.)Secondary character death and angst

B.)OC character death and angst

C.)A life and death struggle between corrupt humans and good demons ((Again, with the idea that demons are the good guys!))

D.)A romance/psychological bullshit story.

-R.F.

_Bad Feelings_

Two weeks more pass after that. Half-moon, waning. You've been shut off from Spirit World on a forced vacation. Every now and then, Botan will visit, and you threaten to invent new kinds of murder if she tells anyone about your current "condition". You're resting in your room, staring around blankly, knowing that there's music being played, but not even conscious of what CD is in. You're lost in a world of blood spatter and fangs and screams. You've been trying all day to shake these terrible images and ideas, and the strong feeling of impending doom, but none of them leave. It's not even the children that are inspiring them. All the worries they've brought on were usually something to do with Hiei or the Makai, or something, and the more you think about your lover, the closer the sensation of doom stalks.

But as the day begins to draw to a close, and after not being called into work for two weeks, you finally get fed up and pull your boots on to go check on things in Spirit World, hopping through your portal.

"Koenma?"

"Ohshitohshitohshitohshitohshitohshit!" he's shouting, throwing papers around like mad.

"KOENMA!" you scream over him. He looks up at you and wigs out again. Or... some more, at least.

"Oh, god! Kali, please leave, your vacation is not over!"

Hiei, who is already in the room, gives him The Eye, and you look at Koenma hard, glaring.

"Okay, then, but don't kill me! Kali, we've found your birth mother." You sit down on the floor, mouth agape, but apparently, he's not done. "And she's in the hands of a particularly dangerous demon that we haven't gotten much information on," he adds. You hear the second part and you lunge forward, and grab his shirt collar. You don't even remember getting up or jumping at him, but you did, you guess, because the next thing you know, you're leaning over the desk, reaching for his shirt and twisting it into your hand.

"WHAT?!" you shriek, picking him up.

"We've located him! But you must hurry, we only found out because he's threatened to come and kidnap you," he says quickly, starting out at a shout and getting quieter after you calm down enough to hear him. You are heaving for breath, and you look at Botan.

"I'm going alone." you say. Botan nods and you go through the portal that appears.

The demon, who is about the same size as you right now, is waiting for you, holding your mother in his arms very firmly. She's unconscious, you notice. You look at the demon holding her more carefully. Long arms, long legs, skinny… And after a good look at his face and facial expressions, you realize that it's Kenshin, in a strange body.

The picture in your coat pocket at home looks just like the woman in his arms. You feel tears building up and you're suddenly very afraid of harm coming to her, and your eyes get big. He looks at you and smiles.

"Ah, the prey comes to the hunter. What kind of fun is that?" he asks through his three-inch-long needles for teeth that you didn't notice the night that you tried to kill him.

"Let go of my mother," you ask.

"But why would I want to do that?" he asks in his hissing voice. "My deeaar?"

"I'll give you anything you want, just let her go, please." You don't sound much like you're pleading, but you're already moving to get on one knee, and your eyes and nose are stinging like mad.

"Oh?" he asks, narrowing his eyes. "Anything?"

"Yes!" you say.

"I was hoping you'd say that," he hisses, smiling sadistically.

The demon puts your mother on the ground. You run for her, and pull her into your arms, off the ground, and you check desperately for signs of life. She stirs, and then looks up at you.

"My... my baby..." she says, hugging you.

"Mommy!" you cry, hugging her back. You start to weep. "Mommy, Botan'll help you get back, just tell her to let you through, I gotta take care of this guy, then I'll be right there, Mommy, I'll try my best, and I'll be right there," you say, handing her the communicator. Somehow, you've got the feeling that everything's about to go to hell, but she's freaked out enough that you don't want to worry her anymore than she's already worried. She flees from your sight, and you're on edge until you feel her energy leave.

Kenshin looks at you and licks his teeth. "What luck, what luck!" he says. Alright, my dear. Since your mother has already fled, then I get to name my price and keep it. And my price is, my dearest lovely... You."

You feel a sudden fist of ice clutch at your stomach, but you know you can't do anything about it. So you try to kick him, but he merely catches your foot and twists it, knocking you to the ground, and he grabs your neck to pin you. His face is near yours. You kick Kenshin in the face (you're in good shape, why not?). He wipes the dirt on his cheek off and laughs at you, getting his face up right in yours to tease. He's still holding you by the neck, keeping you on the ground on your back.

"You're lucky I'm not after your sex anymore, pretty, and even luckier that I'm not too bitter about that attempt on my life…"

"What the hell are you talking about?" you ask, suddenly terrified, and trying your damnedest to not show it.

"I want your children."

The sudden intake of breath hurts your chest, and you try not to choke on your spit, or your tongue.

"No, no, no, never, let me go!" you start to shriek, trying to fight him away from you. He giggles and punches your solar plexus. You thrash.

Kenshin laughs at you.

Other than that, you don't take much into account. It enrages you more than you could ever have imagined being enraged, and you are petrified. You stop fighting long enough to take in a breath, then, the first thing you do is charge yourself as full of your own energy as you can without killing yourself, though it hurts intensely. You run at him, throwing it ahead of you to hit him. He catches it and holds it. You try to force more at him, but to channel any more would be to hurt yourself beyond recovery, and possibly your children. You lost one, you don't think you could stand to lose another.

A wave of crippling pain hits you, and you have to rest on the ground, suddenly unable to hold yourself up. Kenshin moves next to you and grabs your hair. You grab his hand to keep it from hurting when he pulls.

"WAIT!" you manage to call.

"For what, a rescue team?"

"No, the opposite. Look, just let me close enough to the ground so I can write on it…"

He pauses, then looks hard at you, then nods.

The only thing you can think to write is "Bye.", which you do by a knife of pure energy from your fingertips. And then you make a cut up your own arm and splash it onto the ground, near where you were when you were trying to get Kenshin away.

Then another wave of pain hits you, and the only noise you hear is Kenshin's laughing, before it all fades to nothingness.

You wake up in a strange room with a leash and a collar composed of spirit energy, the leash being attached to the wall. You feel weaker than you should, as if all your energy is gone.

"Why does this keep happening?" you ask the air.

"Because you're so powerful, sweetheart, and we have to keep you from getting free. Energy removal is the only way to do this, and then you're strong enough that we also need to bind you. That's the problem with strong people. Even humans can break their bonds, half the time, without realizing or strengthening any of their natural spirit powers, and you're not human, which takes away the limit of pain tolerance. Not entirely, but still enough that it's easier for you to break yourself free.

"Oh. Ouch." You pet the collar, and pain throws itself all the way through you, and you release, and have to take a few deep breaths. "Oh."

"Figure it out?"

"Energy's been put in the collar?"

"Very good, my darling."

He approaches you with a pair of scissors.

"I decided a while ago that I would prefer your hair shorter than it is, so if you would hold still, it would be much appreciated. You see, my pets commonly start to go mad after a while, and I've seen some of them rip out half their scalp, and you seem strong enough to do that, so I am going to cut the hair. You can hold onto the collar until you pass out, if you'd like, it would probably prevent injury. And I warn you, now. Any disrespect to me will be ended in any permanence I can summon. If you're not housebroken, I suggest you let me know, now."

"Heh. Fuck you, buddy," you bark. He smirks.

You grab the collar and wait for the pain to make you pass out again.


	62. The Boys

_The Boys_

**Yusuke**

Kali is gone, and Koenma has only told you that she would be back as soon as she could. Botan is standing close to Koenma, staring hard at her communicator, as if willing someone to answer it, and Hiei is in the back corner of the room, sweating profusely, chewing through his own teeth, you're sure. Kurama and Kuwabara are within arms' reach, but you don't care enough to talk to them, yet.

"A-ar-are-are you B-B-Botan?" a voice asked through the communicator.

"Yes, but who are you?"

"P-por-p-portal!"

"Let her through, Botan," Koenma says. A trembling snake-looking woman in a yellow and pink kimono climbs through and falls to the floor, curling up and sobbing. You have to be restrained to not launch yourself through the portal. The woman looks around emptily, pale-faced and yellow-eyed.

"She... She... They..." she tries to say. Botan kneels next to her and puts her arms around her and whispers into her ear comfortingly.

"Who is this?" Kuwabara asks.

"Kali's birth mother. Can't you see the shape of her face?" Kurama says quietly.

"You're her mother?" you demand.

"Y... Y... Y... Yes... I... Why... Who..."

"We are her co-workers and friends. You are in Spirit World. Koenma is her boss," Kurama says pleasantly, but still not picking his voice up. He sounds scared, too.

"She... You... She wound up here?"

"Yes."

"But... she wasn't supposed to be here... she was supposed to be..."

"We had someone adopt her, and we played a part in raising her. If we'd not done that, she would have been found by now."

"Oh, yes, yes, yes…. Where is my baby…?"

"We don't know. What did he want?"

"What?"

"Kenshin. What did he want with Tamiko?"

You hear Kuwabara make a stupid-sounding noise, but you shut it out.

"I don't know… maybe to kill her… probably to kill her…" her mother says.

"WHAT?!?" you shout, not meaning to, and you stand up again. Kurama and Kuwabara put a hand on your shoulders apiece and force you back into the chair and hold you there until you're too busy shaking with rage to do anything.

"I'm... my baby, my baby... Can you get her back?"

"How did she get you here?"

"Deal. She bargained. Whatever he wanted. She told me to leave."

"So you did."

"My baby, is she okay? Is she? Will she ever be back?!" she demands, looking frantically up at Koenma and starting to cry.

"We don't know yet, we'll have a scout go look for her, and he'll give us news."

You feel tears welling up in your eyes, so you screw them shut, and you hear Kuwabara sit down very heavily in the floor.

"I'm worried, Urameshi," Kuwabara says.

"We all are," Kurama answers. You feel the grip on your chair grow. The wood splinters, but you and the others don't have an option but to sit very quietly, waiting.

After a little while, Hiei growls and draws his sword.

"I can't stand waiting here anymore, I refuse to sit and wait for the end of the world or her return. I demand that you let me cross and find Kali," he barks.

You're not surprised by the initiative shown, but you are surprised by the fact that he looks as nerve-wracked as someone expecting that the world should explode any minute, and their ride off is late.

Koenma doesn't say anything for a second, before looking up at Hiei scrutinizingly. "You're certain you want to cross? She may very well be dead, Hiei, or dying, and I don't know if you, or any of the others, could stand to see her like that any more than you already have."

"Why would I care if she's dying or not, I just want to know," he barks. You know he's lying. Kurama does, too, because Kurama makes a soft pained sound that makes you think of a worried sigh.

Botan allows Hiei to cross into Demon world, and the rest of you wait silently. The arm of your chair has been splintered, you hear Kurama make a slight noise of pain or surprise when he bites through his thumb, and Kuwabara keeps making dumb noises that make you want to kick him.

Hiei's voice sounds almost broken on the communicator, so none of you can hear what it says, but Botan makes a portal. He lands on your side of it and swallows, looking very torn up somehow, but masking it with indifference, as always. It had to have been hard for him to maintain that, it looked really forced. His eyes are watering, very slightly. He tosses a shell-shaped compact with black paint chipping off onto Koenma's desk, and he starts out of the room with two words, very quiet ones.

"She's dead."

You temporarily lose your grip on yourself and you get up and start after Hiei, before Kuwabara and Kurama grab an arm apeice. "WHAT!? SHE IS NOT! SHE CAN'T DIE THAT EASY AND WITH THAT LITTLE TIME! SHE'S TOO STUBBORN FOR THAT!! YOU PROVED IT YOURSELF!" you scream, trying to fight Kuwabara and Kurama's grip on your arms. Hiei stops at the doorway, then glares at you, and you're taken aback by the tears and pain and rage in his eyes, and the blankness the rest of his face is struggling to show.

"She traded her life for her mother's, died in an instant, if I had to guess, and it only took that much time for me to get back because it took her longer to burn than it took her to die," he says very coldly. The other two, in their shock, let you go. You grab his cloak and slam him into the doorway. You feel the tears in your eyes falling, but he looks at you with the same cold expression. And with or without the tears in his eyes, you just can't stand that he's trying to pull that shit, and that adds to the rage and pain built up in your chest and your throat, so you punch him in the face. He takes the blow, but his expression doesn't change.

"YUSUKE! STOP!" Koenma shouts over Kali's mother crying, Botan comforting her, and Kuwabara crying while Kurama is letting his silent tears fall. You look at him, letting go of Hiei, who immediately retreats, probably to his room. You punch the wall, putting a hole in it, right next to one of hers. Hers is considerably larger, but your ego is the only thing that cares, and right now, even your ego doesn't matter.

"It's not fair!" you cry futilely. "It's! Not! FAIR!"

"There's nothing we can do about it other than mourn her, now, Yusuke, please, calm down," Kurama chastises, trying to pull you back.

"KISS MY ASS!" you scream, leaving the room and slamming the door and going to the training hall and starting to beat the shit out of a punching bag. You hear Kuwabara walk in after you and start doing the same thing, screaming as loudly as he can. You start imitating. No one comes in to stop you, like normal. You just scream at the stupid punching bag and try to kill it for not helping her. You should have gone; you should have helped!

Even as you beat the shit out of the stupid bag, you know more and more that she is gone. No bringing her back. No coming back for her at all, she is not a wasted, unexpected death like you were. And it makes you feel even worse to know it.

**Kurama**

You know something isn't right. She would have been back through here if she had died, and no file appeared. So you go up to Hiei's room and knock very gently on the door.

"Go away," Hiei's voice demands.

"Please, Hiei, I'd like the truth."

"I don't know anything, either. Now. Go away, Kurama, before I tear your lips off and make you eat them."

"Please, Hiei, I just want the truth."

"I don't know!"

"Hiei, I demand that you open this door!" you shout, finally losing your temper, already being overwhelmed with the pain of the idea of her loss.

The door opens, and you look down at the Forbidden Child and see that his eyes are bloodshot and the sclera are yellowing, and the cloth over his Jagan isn't there anymore, and his skin is going mildly green. You look carefully at him, and then close your eyes, feeling another tear make its way down your face before you open them again. He looks at you hatingly.

"What do you want, Fox? I suggest you make this quick, before I decide to ignore my self-restraint."

"Just tell me what is her fate."

"I don't know."

"What did you see? What was there? Was there even a body? Yusuke was right, she's too stubborn to die that quickly. She would only have been dying, and Kenshin would have been dead."

"… the word 'bye' was written into the dirt. And a lot of blood was near the neck of an imprint of her body on the ground. There was no body, but I don't want to imagine her in Kenshin's hand, alive or dead, and I will continue deluding myself with the false knowledge that she is as easy as that to kill, and go about my life."

You nod and turn to leave. Hiei seems to be less hating, but there's a rage in there that you are frightened to think about incurring.


	63. Not Housebroken

_Not Housebroken_

You hear the sounds of your own screaming echoing through the empty room that you're being kept in, but you can't see anything. You're pounding yourself and everything else around, clutching at whatever you can get your hands on, before you give up and curl up in a corner, tugging on nothing, wishing that you had even remote energy use. He stops.

"Alright. Now, dearest, what do you call me?"

"FUCKING BASTARD!" you shriek, getting up and running at him, forgetting that you have next to no strength. He sidesteps and strikes you with a mental attack, using his usual method of torture, giving you the pain of burning to death. You lay on the floor, wishing to all gods that you could feel the cold floor instead of the impossibly painful burn, the heat seeming to want to take off your skin, but never doing so, streaking through every cell and nerve in your body, until it stops and the cold of the floor is a relief. You lay on it, until he kicks you in the ribs.

"What is my title?"

"Which one?"

"The one I told you to call me by, little wretch. I am your master, and I expect to be treated as such!"

"Ohhh... Ugly-small-cocked-failed-genetic-experiment-AAAAAAAGGGGGHH!!!"

"Just listen to me and do what I say! If you don't obey me by the end of the night, you won't leave this room ever again, do you understand me?" he demands. You look up at him and flip him off. He kicks you again and you hit the back wall. You collapse to the floor and lay there.

"You want more?"

"No."

"Get up."

"Thhhhhhhiiiiis ca-uh-ca-uh-can't be, um, um, um, healthy for my kid. Or-or-or-or kids." You can't seem to get your mouth to cooperate with your mind, you can't spit anything out.

"Oh, it's purely mental."

"B... But I operate like a uh... a human. I produce different um, different... ummm... different chemicals with different ahhhh... stimuli. And what's the energy max on this thing?" you stutter, rolling to the wall and using the wall to help you up, and you lean there as your left knee refuses to hold your weight anymore.

"Why?"

"Curious. My energy is boosted by pain." Your head falls against the wall and you fall down, laying there. He walks over to you and picks you up by your collar and holds you close to his face.

"What?!"

"My energy. It's boosted by pain. I want my mommy, will you die and go away so I can go see her?"

He throws you to the floor, and you lay there, not moving. You want to go to sleep.

"Will you behave?"

"Without direct orders, yes. I take instructions, not commands."

He stands there. He is considering your terms. You lay still, staring at the wall and wanting sleep to invade your mind, so you can end this nightmare. The sleep doesn't come.

He picks you back up and takes you to the kitchen and attaches a leash of energy to the collar and attaches it to the counter in his kitchen.

"Can't have you running away. Now. My dear. Please, do tell me what you want for food, and we'll talk."

"I'll throw up if I eat. And I'm about to fall off this seat, could you lengthen the energy thing so I don't choke, because I don't feel well enough to pull myself back up."

He touches the leash and it gains about a foot and a half. You nod, and you're listing to the right, until you eventually fall and hit the floor. He laughs a little and continues going about his business, so you curl up and wish for sleep or wish for unconsciousness.

"My stomach hurts," you groan. You start to dry heave, and it hurts your chest and you cry out, somehow not being able to take nearly the amount of pain that you used to be able to take, probably being weakened by the lack of energy.

"Aw, poor dear," you hear him say, before he laughs slightly. You whisper a song under your breath, trying to lull yourself to sleep.

* * *

A Week Later

**Hiei**

"Hiei, we need you to go take care of someone," Koenma says. You are the only one who hasn't shown his anger or sadness outside your room, so Koenma figures it's safe to send you to go kill someone.

"Who?"

"I see you, Forbidden Child!" it laughs. You draw your sword. The demon comes out of its hole, and you discover that it's very, very, very, very big. A bear demon, but with camouflage powers. You throw your sword into it and it impales the bear's middle, but he pulls it out and throws it down.

"A pin prick!" he roars, stomping at you. You jump out of the way, and run up its leg, charging your fist with your energy, similar to what she did, and force your fist and energy into its wound, and then continue climbing your way up until you reach its throat. It tries to pluck you off, but it scratches its own neck, and you dive into the wound and punch your way through its wind pipe until you get to its arterial wall. The windpipe starts filling up with blood, and you climb out through the hole in its throat and hold it shut, ignoring the amount of blood on you. It coughs and hacks and falls down dead, drowning.

You stomp on his ribcage on your way down, and pull your cloak back on and sit down on its dead body, not bothering to go back, yet.

The communicator rings and Botan looks out of it at you.

"Oh, you're still alive. Thank goodness!"

"What do you want?"

"Koenma was worried about you and thought you might be hurt, because you haven't moved. That's all, just tell me when you can come back."

"I can come back now," you say, standing up and rubbing some of its blood off your jaw.

"Oh, alright. You know, I thought you might be a little more upset about Kali's disappearance. Why are you hiding it?"

"There's nothing to hide."

"Yes there is!"

"No, there's not, and if there was, you wouldn't be alive, because if I were to show you my method of grieving, none of you would make it out. And you're working your way towards a very painful death, Reaper."

She smiles a little nervously and rubs her neck a little. "Yes, yes, okay. One last thing- Koenma would like to see you when you get back."

The portal appears.

In Koenma's office, you are stuck standing in the middle of the room while Botan and Koenma argue quietly, and your patience wears thinner and thinner. You'd rather be off somewhere else. Anywhere else.

"Hiei, we need to ask you something."

"If you didn't, I wouldn't be here."

"Did you… sleep… with Kali?"

At first, you consider killing him for knowing. Then you calm down, and you realize that he wouldn't be asking unless there was any uncertainty, and he was merely guessing. And you wonder how he could have guessed.

"What kind of stupid question is that?"

"Will you answer?"

"Not until you tell me why you're asking,"

"…. Welll…"

Botan interrupts with a loud voice. "Do you really think he could be the father of any--" Botan freezes and puts her hands over her mouth, looking absolutely terrified.

For some reason, you find yourself unable to move. Or see straight. Or think straight. Probably best for your health.

"…What?"

"Nothing!"

"There's no point in hiding it. Kali is pregnant. We've been trying to figure out with whose children, and how far along she was. We suspect that Kenshin wanted her children because of their supposed fate."

You fail to keep your feet. You kneel unintentionally, and you don't move for a very good bit of time. Pregnant. And almost definitely alive.

"You didn't know about this, then?"

"No."

"Do you think they are yours?"

"Shut up, child, this is none of your business. Kali is dead."

"No, she isn't, Hiei. Anything that dies passes through here. And she didn't."

You almost don't hear him. You almost closed the door in time to avoid hearing his logic. You almost get the chance to ignore every cell in your body that's been telling you that your lover is still alive.

You also develop a keen hatred for the word 'almost', and you stalk up to your room, then retreat to the living room again, where Kurama is sitting.

**Yusuke**

"I can't believe that stupid girl went and got herself killed," you whine, kicking a can down the alley. You have some tension to work out, so why not with the stupid people?

You hear people gathering around you as you walk down the street, and you smile slightly to yourself and stop walking.

"Enough sneaking! Come out!"

"Your mistake, grease-ball," someone says, dropping off a fire escape. You grin at him and wave.

"Oh, no, it's yours," you say. There are about five men around you, half of whom are armed. You smile. This'll be fun. "I'm warnin' you. If you have a weak constitution, I suggest you leave the area."

One lunges at you, and you side-step and elbow his neck and he falls down, and everyone else runs at you, and you kick three of them in a row, then punch the last one in the solar plexus. They all fall.

"Aw, come on," you whine. You keep going down the street, with your hands jammed in your pockets, until Kuwabara comes behind you and puts his hand on your shoulder.

"What do you want, Kuwabara."

"I miss 'er, too, Urameshi."

"I'm tryina work out some frustration, so get the hell away from me,"

"Like I'm not suffering, too, Urameshi!" Kuwabara shouts. "So you can just stop being such a pain and shut the hell up."

"Yeah, okay," you murmur. "Come on, let's go find a good fight."

**Kurama**

You stare at the coffee table that is currently propping up your feet. The others are all gone, leaving you to the silence of your books. For once, you don't want it. You want to hear the noise of Yusuke fighting with Kuwabara, or of Kali shouting at someone, or of Yusuke and Kuwabara trying to figure out how to make something alcoholic taste good to her. Or even the taste of her drunken lips and your wine on her breath, a kiss on a dare from one of those mad nights. Something to serve as a distraction from the hellacious nightmare of her being somewhere out of all hands if she's not dead. You realize that her soul could have gotten lost, or something, a ghost, perhaps, but you doubt it. Like Yusuke said, she's hard to kill. You feel your eyes begin to water again.

And then the worries that she really is alive and will be back decide to attack. She may come back, but she won't be back to her same old self, this will alter her, you are certain. You sit back in your chair, and Hiei comes in and sits down on the window sill.

"Why not your room?"

"I can smell her in there, too, from the time she climbed to my window and the time she got drunk and went to the wrong room," he grumbles. "I can smell her everywhere."

"I know how you feel. It's been a week, and none of us have stopped mourning. Yusuke has gone out to find something or someone to take his frustrations out on, and Kuwabara hasn't been here all week, but I suspect that he has been sitting in his room, sighing a lot and wondering what we're doing."

A long silence passes between you. You sniff the air and noticed the smell of blood coming from Hiei.

"Hiei? Are you bleeding?"

"I am covered in blood. Koenma suspected I needed to work out frustrations, too, or at least something to serve as a distraction."

"Ah."

After a long pause, you put your failed attempt at reading down and fold your hands in your lap. "I miss her."

"Hm," Hiei agrees quietly.

A bit more silence, and you realize that Hiei is tense. He's got his fist tight around the window sill, and his free hand is resting on his sword.

"What's wrong, Hiei?"

"Something that I did not want to accept has been put into my lap and bound there."

"The fact that she is, inevitably, alive?"

"Yes."

"But that's not all."

His voice gets softer, and lower, and, somehow, weaker. "No."

"What else is it?"

You don't get an answer.

"Hiei?"

Again, no answer.

"Hiei…?" You suddenly become unnerved. Something that Hiei can't bring himself to say, even the mere idea of such, bothers you to no end. "Hiei, it's not going to go away just by hiding it from me, and I'd appreciate it if you told me… please?"

His voice drops to a whisper, and his eyes close so you can't see into them. "…. Kenshin wanted her for her children. The fated twins. That she's been expecting for at least three weeks, now."


	64. Due

Yeah, sorry for not updating in three days. It's been a whole few weeks since I've done that. But I'm busy, I'm writing yet another Mary Sue ((and it's not a Hiei one, holy fuck. I'll have an even harder time getting people to go to that one, because Kurama fanfics largely suck. People seem to prefer to think he's not as straight as he could be. Granted, even I don't think he's totally straight. A thousand years is a long time to go without getting at least a LITTLE curious.

Ah, but. You know. -wave-

-R.F.

* * *

_Due_

**You, six months later**

"Oh, Kitty!" Kenshin calls. Your pet name. You look at the door and sit up in the hammock bed, wishing more than ever that the leash wasn't attached to your bed. It's been six months since you got here. Six months of pain and torture and enslavement. You are miserable. You have cried every night, putting yourself to sleep as much as possible, and you rarely eat, except when you get impossibly hungry, because then you can't eat enough. You haven't gotten any fatter, probably from the refusal to eat until your children demand food. You pat your still-not-showing belly and watch him enter the room. He takes hold of the leash, and you hop off the bed, staring at the floor.

"Do you have to look so glum?" he asks.

"Yes," you answer, spitting on his feet. He kicks your chest, and you stagger, tripping on your bed and falling back, nearly having your head ripped off by the collar. "God DAMN you!" you shriek.

"Language, language!" he teases, pulling your leash. You cry out and follow him, muttering about heartless bastards who need to die. "Come on, now, it's lunch time and you need to eat something, it's been three days since you've eaten."

You grumble something about not being hungry, but an incredible pain comes from your middle before you can finish, and you fall to your knees, holding yourself up with one arm while the other is held over your belly. "Agh... no..." you hiss as he picks you up, grinning and giggling gleefully, carrying you to the empty room that he had you in the first time you were here, and hooks your leash to a steel table.

"It's time, it's time!" he sings.

"NOO!" you shriek. The leash shrinks so that you're laying with your head flat on the bed, and you can't move any more. He binds the rest of your limbs in a similar manner, so you can hardly move to fight.

You lay for what seems like days, fighting your bonds while he "prepares" you for giving birth, removing your jeans and preparing the table, all the while, your contractions, it feels, are ready to kill you as much as you're ready to kill him. You want to reach up and squeeze his abnormally long, stretchy neck until he's dead.

The pain is terrible, but what's worst is when you feel something... slip...

You know there should be noise, but there is none. You see Kenshin over you stare at something in one hand, and he shrugs and puts it aside, and he continues waiting to catch. You start to weep. That must have been the one that died.

Something else just... slips... and then you hear a sharp shriek, and your first instinct is to reach for the source of the noise and make it stop, to comfort it and make it better. He holds the very little boy up so you can see him and wraps him in a quilt, which quickly becomes covered in blood, and a second cry mixes with the boy's when something else slips. Kenshin holds the girl up, smiling proudly. "You're the proud mother of the most powerful beings on the planet, isn't it wonderful? They're so little, aren't they, but fully formed, fingernails and all, seemingly healthy. They almost look like humans, except one has teeth, already, fangs, I suppose? And the other has strange ears, pointed like a wolf's, and a wolf's tail. Have you thought of any names?" he asks as he starts cleaning them off.

"Get. Away. From my. Children," you growl, glaring at him.

"Make me," he says, narrowing his eyes at you. You don't exactly know how, but all of a sudden, he's laying on the floor in a pool of his own blood, while his upper half has been split into two lengthwise peices, and his head has been removed and is rolling on the floor. His legs have been obliterated. You're no longer bound to the bed, and you're covered in his blood.

You stare at him, then look at the crying baby girl. You pick her up and smile slightly, cradling her and putting your finger in her mouth. She bites down. She's the one the the wolf tail and pointy ears.

"Ah, my pretty Xume," you say. You clean yourself off and get dressed as you cradle her, and then start cleaning her off. She stops crying as she sucks on your finger. You feel tears welling up, but your tears aren't of misery, anymore. You pick up your boy, too, and smile at the wide red eyes staring at yours. "You look like a Daniel," you whisper. He yawns.

"Aw, yeah, you're tired!" you say sarcastically. "All you had to do was take a free ride down a hell of a waterslide, man, I had to do the real work! Now, come on, I'll feed you, and then I have to figure out how to get home."

Once fed, your five-pound children sleep on your bed while you shower. Xume wakes up while you're in the process of drying off, and she wakes up her brother. You take them both to the den and get them back to sleep before you search Kenshin's room for some sort of communicator and some clothes. You dump everything out of his wardrobe 'til you find some fascinating gi/robes that you can shred to fit. Then you start digging for a way to call home. You smash his dresser to peices, you look all through his side-table-drawers, until you find one. You turn it on and figure out how to hook it up to Spirit World's frequency.

A very surprised Yusuke is on the other end of the line. "Kali!" he shrieks. "Holy fucking hell!"

"Nothing holy about it, Yusuke, now tell Botan to give someone a portal here!"

Hiei opens the door and walks in while you're sitting in the living room, rubbing your neck ((Collar broke when you went nuts while he was messing with your kids)) while the children are sleeping on the couch next to you.

"Hello, Hiei. Be quiet. I don't know how well Daniel hears, but Xume's got wolfish traits," you whisper, putting a finger to your lips and picking them up very very gently. Hiei moves over and takes one of them from you, then looks at you, then at the kid again. You smile half-heartedly at him.

"They'll be the prey of every remotely intelligent demon in the Makai," he whispers.

"And we will protect them, won't we?" you whisper back as you better your hold on Daniel. "Please?"

"Yes," he says. You smile and him and kiss his cheek, and start out the door. He puts his hand on your arm, and as you turn to face him, he's not looking at you, anymore, but at Xume.

"This is the girl?"

"Yeah. Looks just like ya, huh? Her name's Xume."

"And Daniel looks like a cross between us," he says. You've never seen him look so relieved, or happy. You're happy to see him look so happy.

"I want to go home, now, Hiei. Yusuke believed I was dead?"

"Yes. Fool. Kurama knows, though. So does Koenma and Botan."

"Ah. Yeah."

You smile and close your eyes, letting the tears fall again. He wipes them off.

"No need for that. Set a good example and be a strong mother," he says. You grin and kiss his cheek again while you wonder how on earth he can sound so cold when he's saying something so warm.

"Just like you'll be a strong father, hm?"


	65. Back Home

_Back Home_

"Oh my god, Kali!" Yusuke shouts as he walks into Koenma's office. ((Koenma's not there, at the moment.)) He almost runs at you to hug you, but you thrust your barrier out, and he bounces away.

"Back off, you'll hurt him!" you shout, letting the barrier drop. You're a lot stronger than you were less than a year ago, you notice.

"Who?"

"Him," you say, holding Daniel out for him to see. The child's red eyes blink unseeingly at Yusuke, and Yusuke sits down very heavily.

"Oh, god... Whose is that?"

"Mine!" you say indignantly.

"What?!"

"Kenshin tried to make me hand them over. I'd have tortured him to death, but what's left of his bloody corpse is already plastered across the floor in his spare room, and I'm afraid I can't undo it."

"Your hair... He cut it... Or something, it looks... weird."

"He cut it to keep me from pulling it out while he was torturing me," you explain. "It's grown six inches since then..."

"How'd you get free?"

"I don't remember. I was tied down while I was giving birth to Daniel and his sister, and then I told him to get away from them while he was cleaning them off, and he told me to make him. I did one better and made sure he'd never get near them again."

"His sister? Where's she?"

Hiei ((Standing behind you.)) moves so Yusuke can see the tiny baby girl in his arms. Yusuke looks hard at them, then at you.

"They're really little."

"I don't have children like humans. I was half-expecting to lay eggs."

Koenma walks into the office, not at all phased by the children, or your hair. He's more curious about your oddly-cheery disposition, and the whereabouts of your former "owner". The curiosity fades when you explain that most of Kenshin's upper torso is lying in the remains of his legs and the rest of his upper torso with his head.

"They're beautiful children. Very powerful. We'll have to put you into hiding, though, if you'll have it. Or, at least, in a more secure place."

"What's wrong with home? You have no idea what kind of strength this has given me," you say. "I think I can do now twice what I could do a year ago. I fight naturally, now, I don't have to focus or think. When I killed Kenshin, all that happened was I saw red, and then he was in pieces in the floor and I was covered in blood."

"You did that anyway, Kali, when something hurt you enough. But the question is, who were you scared for, yourself or them?"

"Them, what's that got to do with anything?"

"Do you truly think that you could do that without your children being in trouble?"

Hiei takes Daniel out of your arms, and Koenma hands you the portal key. Yusuke stands up quickly, eyes wide.

"What the hell?"

"Come on, Yusuke, we need to test this theory," you say, creating a portal. You shove him through it and hop through it yourself. Hiei and Koenma follow. Yusuke looks at you like you're completely insane.

"I'm not fighting with her! She shouldn't be moving at all, she just had two kids! To-fuckin'-day! Not even a few _hours_ ago!"

"I'm not human, you moron! Now, attack me!" you shout. He looks at you, then shakes his head and stands back. You grin slightly and run at him, tapping into what power you had before. He has trouble side-stepping you, but you don't hit him. You stop.

"I need to be in danger, I guess. I have more power, but I'm not able to tap into what I had to use before."

"I'm not gonna attack you," Yusuke says. Hiei walks over and hands Yusuke the kids very carefully, then draws his sword. You grin and lower yourself into a fighting stance. He runs at you, and you stand where you are, giggling, until he gets to you. He brings his sword down, but you hold your arm up and deflect the blow with the suddenly-there extention of energy on your arm. You grin and giggle and twist around with an amazing speed and knock him to the ground, and hold your sword-arm at him. He smirks and gets up as you help him up.

"But you didn't lose control, or gain nearly as much as it would have taken to kill Kenshin," Koenma says. "We can test this, but I don't think you want to."

"You mean like before?" you ask. "Fuck you, not again." You take your kids from Yusuke and hold them close to you. Xume wakes up and starts to cry. You hush her, then open another portal for the kitchen, and go inside, scowling to find that there's nothing to feed them. Come to think of it, you have no idea what to feed them at all, other than what Kenshin had.

Koenma follows you in. "Kali? Do you know how to feed them? Or what to feed them?"

"I dunno. I'd ask Mom, but I don't think she does, either. Kenshin seemed to know, he kept a lot of shit in his house, but like hell I'm going back there-"

A clattering sound startles you, and you jump and turn around. Hiei's putting something on the counter. A small container. You look inside it and smirk.

"Ah. Thank you for being less of a dumbass than me," you say, kissing his cheek. He takes Daniel away from you so you can make the formula, and Botan giggles and helps you.

You and Botan are feeding them when you hear the kitchen door slams open. You jump, and you feel your energy spike and everything around you shifts, but you calm back down when you see Ender.

"KALI!" he as-good-as-screams, launching himself at you. You unconsciously stick up a barrier, and he bounces off it and hits the floor.

"What the hell is your problem?" he asks. Both your mom and your mother are in the doorway, standing with their mouths open.

"Tamiko...?" your mother asks.

"Yep, it's me," you say, smiling and taking the bottle out of Xume's mouth when she starts spitting out her formula. "I'm sorry it took so long to get back."

"My baby," your mother gasps, lunging forward. She bounces off the barrier, too, but Ender catches her before she falls back. You drop the barrier, and walk up to your mother and hug her and kiss her cheek. Ender looks at the child in your arms, and he tries to touch her, but you punch him into the wall, before you realize what you're doing.

"Oh, shit, Ender, I'm sorry!" you yelp, running toward him. Xume gives a loud belch, and you laugh. "Don't touch her unless I let you, okay? It's pretty freaky to see something move out of the corner of my eye toward her..."

"Yeah," he groans sitting up very slowly and walking back over. Your mom wraps her arms around your neck, and you have to fight the urge to flip her. You pat her back, though, and grin.

"Can I see 'er?" Ender asks.

"Me, first, I raised you," your mom objects. You giggle. Daniel gives a belch, too, and you go pick him up and hand Xume to your mother and Daniel to your mom, and you stick your tongue out at Ender.

"Ohhhh, they're so sweet!" your mom says.

"For now. Careful, he has fangs already," you say, pointing at Daniel and going to sit down and breathe for a minute. Ender decides to quit looming over your maternal figures and sits down next to you, nearly as tall sitting on the floor as you are sitting in a chair.

"Whose are they?"

"Mine."

"People don't get pregnant on their own."

"I'm not saying," you say simply.

"Kenshin's?"

"No."

"Then whose?"

"Shut up," you grumble, hitting him in the head. He holds his head, then hisses in your ear.

"One looks just like 'im, and the other one has his nose."

You smile slightly, then shove him away. He gets one of them, Xume, from your mother, and starts playing with her while she's laying in his hand.

"Sharp as tacks, too, Kal. Careful, raising someone this smart, it gets hard to lie after a while."

"Like I could ever lie!" you say, grinning and going to the living room, taking in the smells and very very happy to be home.


	66. Reunited

_Reunited_

"Mommy!" you sing as you skip into her room and hug her while the children are napping.

"Tamiko!" she sighs, hugging you back and kissing your cheek. "I've missed you so much.. It's had to have been... at least... ten years?"

"Sure feels that way," you say, sitting on her bed and smiling brightly.

She, for a while, just stares at you, touching lightly at your face with her scaly fingers. Snake demon.

"How did you get here? Why didn't I ever find you, or hear of you?"

"I've had a nickname the Makai gave me, and then another that Ender gave me, Mommy, then a third I gave myself for the Makai. Okima and Kiraa and--"

Her eyes shoot wide open and she goes pale, grabbing one of your hands. "You're Kiraa the demon hunter?"

"I'm not a demon hunter, they just don't know that," she said cheerfully. "I don't even work for the Reikai, according to what they believe."

"You're Kiraa?"

"Yes, I'm Kiraa," you say. "I've been keeping an eye out like that, too, for you."

"You... you saved my life..."

"Did I?" you ask, feeling your heart jump to your throat.

"I don't suppose the infamous Kiraa remembers all of her... adventures... But do you happen to remember a human demon-hunter, about the time you earned that name?"

"Dr. Naraku ((So sue me, I like the name.)) Hakasaka. He killed and/or captured demons and kept them for the valuable bits, Koorime tears, Sindra-cloran eyes, Kiako bones... I remember all too well."

"I was one of the ones you helped rescue from him. He was going to keep me for my hair," she says, petting her black, silky hair. "He didn't realize I'm not a full Hebionna." She kisses your cheek and hugs your shoulders.

After a bit of a pause, you feel compelled to ask. "So... my father... do you know anything about him?"

"I thought he was human," she says slowly. "I really did. He looked it, almost totally, except for his purple eyes."

"So... you're half-breed, but he was the... mixed one?"

"I think so. I knew both of my parents, darling, and they were both full-bred. My mother was a Hebionna, and my father was a Sindra-Cloran.

"Oh," you mumble. She probably didn't know, then. "Why did you put me on the human world?"

"He told me, when he found out I was pregnant, what the fate of his child or children or grandchildren would eventually be, and he insisted that I not keep you. We had been seen together, and if I did not manage to keep you hidden, then they would know. He left me, or died, soon after that night, but I did as he had told me."

"When did Kenshin find you?"

"A year ago. He'd been watching you for a very long time, and looking for me in the meantime... It was difficult for him... But he kept me until he could communicate with Koenma."

You nod, then hug her again as your eyes start to water. "Mommy, I love you, thank you so much."

"I'm sorry, dear, I'm very sorry."

"Well, shit, if you hadn't done that, I'd probably be dead already, or my children would not be born, and I would not be here. Well... Probably would, probably get caught... He and I were fated..."

"The... the black-haired one with the red eyes, he is their father?"

You nod. She smiles a little, but the pain in her face is obvious. "I'm sorry, my love. I am so sorry..."

"Can't help fate. It was going to happen eventually," you say quietly, standing up and brushing yourself off and stretching. She smiles at you and hugs you again.

"My baby... I'm so happy you've grown up to be so strong!"

You look over her and see how weak and small she is and you recognize the way she would have raised you. You would be terribly ill-suited to your fate if she'd kept you. That's why she put you up for adoption. Not only did she not have the power to protect you, she did not have the ability to teach you how to protect yourself, and probably no ability to control you. You would probably have caused some problems, had you stayed with her, rather than having someone like Genkai, Ender, and Koenma to... well, keep you in check.

"I love you, Mommy," you say, hugging her again before you leave to go check on the kids.


	67. Damned Normalcy

_Damned Normalcy_

"Gerroff me!" you shout, holding both the kids close to your chest. Botan and Keiko are trying their damnedest to pull them away from you, and you're trying your damnedest to not kill them. "Back the fuck off, before I get pissed and forget I'm not supposed to hurt you two!"

"Please?" Botan begs. You growl and let them take your children, but your hair is bristling.

"They're two weeks old, you be fucking CAREFUL!" you shriek. Your hands are shaking as they're tightening into fists.

They aren't listening to you. They're gooing and gaaing over the kids. Botan's the first to learn her lesson, while she's waving her finger in Daniel's face. He leans his head forward and bites very firmly on her finger with his pointed teeth. You grin when Botan pulls her finger away, but the baby doesn't let go.

"Kali, get your child off me!" she demands.

"You wanted to see him..." you sing.

"They're only two weeks old, I didn't think he'd have teeth that sharp and know how to use them!"

"Sucks for you!"

"Please, he's drawing blood!" she pleads. You get up and walk over and pick Daniel up. He smiles at you with his bloody teeth. You give him a strip of mildly-cooked steak, and eat a strip yourself. He chews it, then grins. You put him on the floor, and he starts walking away, probably to go see his father.

"They've... wow... They're only two weeks old?"

"Yeah. They're developing at different rates, though. Daniel, I expect, will stop aging once he reaches an adult body in a few years or so. Xume, I dunno about. She's... Actually, I've been trying to decide if she'll look human at all, she's been looking more and more like a wolf by the hour. Look at her!" you say, pointing at her. She's got the beginnings of canine teeth, and her hair's getting rough, and her hands are taking the forms of paws.

"Well, she may be able to transform between human and wolf. Did you think about that?"

"Maybe," you say. You pick up Xume, who promptly starts reaching for the floor. She walks around on all fours, but she's got both her feet and her hands on the floor, instead of her hands and knees. You walk towards the kitchen. Botan and Keiko and Yukina follow you. A crunching sound cracks through the air, and you look at Xume again. Her knees have reversed. Keiko makes a gagging sound and runs away, the others are very green.

"So what are you feeding them?" Botan asks.

"Daniel eats mostly meat, so far, because that's what he prefers. Dark meat. And Xume eats meat, too, but she likes to eat other things, too. Milk and bread and stuff."

"Oh. Is that healthy?"

"Hell knows," you answer. You sit down at the table. Xume pounces on Daniel, suddenly, with a growl, and they roll on the ground, duking it out.

"They're fighting," Keiko points out.

"Yeah, I know. Best way for them to learn, to fight with someone they're used to and they know and are familiar with. I've taught them against hurting the other permanently, so far, but I don't know if they remember."

"... They're fighting pretty good for two-week-old babies."

"Daniel's more defensive. He usually just practices keeping her off him. They use their energy now and again, but only in little bursts, and they're usually accidental. Xume's yet to use hers as anything but a weapon, and Daniel has yet to use anything but a sheild or something to deflect the blows. Sword of offense, shield of defense," you say. You giggle slightly and sigh tiredly.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm sleepy. They don't sleep much, and I spend a lot of time chasing them."

"Oh. Can't you get someone else to watch them?"

"I don't trust anyone else."

"Why not?"

"They're young and trust everyone, and they're the most powerful beings in this or any other world. I can't let anyone at them," you explain, moving for them and picking Xume off of her brother and cradling her. She paws at your hand as you tickle her stomach. The foot-tall boy bounces up and down at your feet, and you put him on your hip, rubbing your nose against his. You hear the girls talking amongst themselves.

"She's so sweet!"

"And such a loving mother. Guess she's making up for what she didn't have."

"It's so cute to see them together like that, so snuggly. She never struck me as one who'd snuggle with anyone."

"You can hardly tell she can be a cold blooded murderer."

"Whose kids are those, anyway? She's only been gone six months, and it takes nine months to make a baby. Did she go anywhere three months before she was... taken?"

"No, I don't think so. Probably on some missions."

They turn back to you.

"So who's the father?"

"They look like-"

"Botan, please don't make me show my children even more violence, though I can't say I wouldn't love to pull out your voice box," you say.

"Hiei's used that one," Kurama mutters as he walks into the room. None of the girls take the hint, though.


	68. Motherhood

_Motherhood_

You hear a loud crying sound, and you open your eyes, blinking stupidly and looking around for the source of noise before you remember that your children are sleeping in the same room as you. And that you have children. You sit up, and growl something, then go to pick up Daniel. Xume's awake, too, but she doesn't like being picked up as much as Daniel, but she will miss him.

"Mother fuck, kid, you can't be hungry again already, can you? It's been, what, an hour since I last fed you."

"Kali, can't you keep those stupid hellspawns quiet?" someone demands from the doorway. You throw something heavy off the floor, a rattle or something of Daniel's, and hit whoever it is in the head. They stagger, then someone else walks in.

"Hello, Hiei. Who'd I hit?"

"The detective. What's wrong with him that he's awake an hour after you managed to make him stop crying the first time?"

"I dunno. Diaper's not wet. He's not sick or anything. Fuck, I'm sleepy, I haven't gotten much better than a nap. Can you figure it out? You've got as much of a clue as I have. Try feeding him, I've gotta get Xume before she starts howling, too," you grumble. You hand him to Hiei, but the child only starts screaming louder, so you take him back.

"No, no. You have to hold him like _this_" you say, showing your reluctant lover by example, then holding him out. Hiei takes him with a surprising gentleness, even though his face is dripping confusion. You smile. Now you know what the girls were talking about, so cute and seeming to not be the kind to snuggle. And it is a surprise to remember that Hiei can and has regularly killed in cold blood. Now that you see him behaving so sweetly to the baby boy that shared your DNA, you thought for a minute that he could truly be a good father. You pick Xume up, because you know she'll start crying if you don't, being away from her brother, and walk down stairs and dig out some steak strips, already semi-cooked, and you and Hiei sit at the table, feeding the two kids until they look sleepy again.

You stand back up, but Hiei puts his hand on your arm as you start to. He doesn't say anything, but you get the message. You smile, then get up and go back through the maze and get up stairs.

"You should probably sleep more."

"I can't. Kids are keeping me awake. And I can't let them go anywhere else without being worried shitless."

Hiei smiles very slightly, and you start back up to your room. He follows you and lays Daniel in his bed while you're putting Xume in hers, neighboring Daniel's. They're still getting used to the beds separate from yours, but they are adjusting well. You let them start crying themselves to sleep the second night they were alive, but Koenma said that they should be fine, and Hiei agreed that they needed to learn that they would have to take care of themselves as early as possible.

"Hard to think either of us would have kids, huh? I'm not surprised that they're supposed to rule the world," you say, giggling lightly.

"Hn," is all he says in return, but you can hear that he's smirking.

You sit up as he very slowly walks into the room and sits on your bed as well, next to you. Both of you watch the children, and one of your eyes leaks a tear. Slowly, Hiei moves and reaches into his pocket and holds out an open hand. Three black gems are in his hand, all of which are on thin thongs ((shut up.)) of leather. You smile and reach to touch one, very carefully, and pick it up. A necklace. One for each of you.

"You wept for me," you mention solemnly, smiling.

He doesn't answer, to no surprise, but you know. You bite the leather into one length, then tie it around your neck. The other two are for the children.

You move behind him, sitting on your knees, and you wrap your arms around him and he leans against you and lets his head sit on your shoulder and neck, and you feel him sigh, then settle against you. You kiss the side of his face and smile.

After a little while, his breathing changes, and you realize that he is asleep. You lay him on your bed and smile down at him. Sleeping peacefully, along with his son and daughter less than ten feet away. But you can't sleep. You wander out into the hall, then go downstairs.

Kurama is sitting at the table in the kitchen, but he doesn't seem surprised when you come in.

"Hello... Tamiko..." he says slowly, and very cautiously.

"Hello, Kurama," you say with a slight grin as you sit down. "Why are you here? Is your mother okay?"

"She's fine." His voice is much softer than normal. "She's visiting another relative, but I chose not to go."

You nod and smile at him tiredly.

"You should sleep. Your children are asleep, you should sleep."

"I can't," you sigh. "I've been sleeping less and less since they were born, whether or not they wake me up, and I can't sleep well, even if they are asleep. Half-sleep. Still conscious, still aware, just dreaming."

He nods and looks up at you. He looks wounded, you suddenly realize. His eyes are shining more than usual, and his face looks pained.

"You have changed," he says quietly. "You speak so easily, and you're not nearly as charmingly sarcastic or rude, and your words are unusually... sweet."

You nod, a gesture to go on, but you wonder exactly what the hell you said that could count as charming.

"Hiei has changed, also."

You shake your head. "He is the same, he just... trusts me more, I think."

"He's been quieter and quieter, and the only time he speaks, he's talking to you. In fact, he hasn't spent nearly the time in the Makai or Ningenkai he used to. He stays with you, or he watches the children, depending on if they're with you or not."

"I knew that he's been watching the kids. He probably can't help it. Naturally protective, I guess. I didn't know about the quieter part. D'you suppose he's tired? Watching those damn kids can be tiring as hell."

"Hm. He wept for you when you were gone," he mentions simply. "Yusuke and Kuwabara did, also, and so did I."

You smile and pat his back. You start to get up, but he stops you when he speaks again.

"There's been something I've been meaning to ask. Are you aware that you've been bleeding dark jewels?"

You smile a little. "I have changed to take care of my babies. I thought the all-knowing Kurama would figure that out."

"I know that your body has gotten stronger, but I don't think the same could be said of your soul. Your spirit has been broken," he finally sighs mournfully. You suddenly understand.

"I've not been broken, I've been reborn, though, but that's mainly referring to the way my energy works."

He smiles a little. "Are you okay? It is the children that has made you so docile, isn't it, and not Kenshin?"

"'Docile'? This ain't 'docile', this is 'tired'. Kenshin never got the honor of breaking me, I made damn sure of that. I cussed him every day, and made sure I spat on him every chance I got!"

He smiles a little, but doesn't say anything for a minute, until, eventually, he sighs. "You know how much you worried all of us? And hurt everyone that believed the story of your death? I thought Ender was going to literally kill me when I told him you were dead. Don't do anything like that again."

"Hahaha! I didn't have a choice. I could have gotten myself killed, had he not wanted the twins so badly," you giggle.

He doesn't seem to think it's funny. He reaches over and puts his hand very gently over your hands, and he pulls one towards him as he leans forward on his knees. "Kali, please. Be careful," he requests, looking achingly up at you with those bright green eyes.

"Alright, Kurama," you say quietly, settling back in your seat and smiling a little more. "You don't realize how careful I've been since they were born."

"Keep an extra eye out, Kiraa. Make sure that no one sees you with them outside this place. They will know." You suspect he calls you by your old name to make you realize that you are the infamous Kiraa to the Makai, and there will be people who will want them, not because of their fates, but because of who their mother is.

"I will, Kurama. Thank you," you murmur, putting your head down and taking your hands away.

He touches lightly at the necklace and draws it to his palm and looks at it. "I see that Hiei has let you know the pain you caused him, and, at the same time, the love he feels."

"The children are each getting one, also." You nod carefully, and take the gem from his palm and cradle it in your fist.

Kurama smiles. "Be careful with him, too. He won't take pain dealt by you too lightly. He will kill enemies who harm him, I would hate to see what he would do to someone that he loves as much as you if you hurt him."

A sharp cry makes you jump, and in half an instant, you're running for your room before it wakes up Hiei, you hope.


	69. Fatherhood, too

_Fatherhood, Too_

You're careful to keep Hiei, the kids, and everyone else, out of the same room at the same time. You're not quite sure, but you dont think Hiei will appreciate if anyones able to gather that they're his. He's known, the kids know, but no one else does. You'd rather it stay that way. And Xume, as she's been growing, has only looked more and more just like him, with a different shape of her head. But her face is smooth, round, her eyes are the same shape, her hair's even the same color, and so's her skin.

Daniel, however, only has a bit of Hiei in him. The nose, you think. And his right eye is red. The other is the same color as your own, though, and both of his eyes are shaped like yours.

But, one day, you're sitting in the room with the boys, though all five of you are occupied in your own business, all of you look up when you hear the pounding of two children's footsteps. "MOMMA!"

"What?" you ask, leaning forward and putting down the sketch you were working on.

"MOMMA, he HIT ME!" Xume yells.

"Then hit him back."

"No' GANYA!" ((You know how kids cant talk right for a while.))

"Then who?"

"K-EMA!"

"Koenma?"

"Uh-huh!"

"Why did he hit you?"

"Uhhhhhh."

"What did you do? And what did he hit you with?"

"Ummmm."

"Alright. Fine. Where'd he hit you?"

"Hewe," she says, pointing at her shoulder, turning around and showing you a bruise on her shoulder. You're amused at the fact that he usually pegs you in the same place, but you're also annoyed because that asshole hit your kid.

"Alright. Well."

You see Hiei sit up in his spot on the windowsill, and he turns around. "Xume. Come here," he says.

You're surprised by this sudden motion, and so is everyone else. Kuwabara and Yusuke both stop playing Tekken and look over at Hiei, and Kurama takes his eyes off his book and looks gently at him. Even you look surprised at him.

Then, to your horror, he smiles.

"Hiei, please, do not tell my daughter to do anything she will regret."

He pulls away from her ear and looks up at you with a look that almost resembles an attempt at innocence. "Why not?" he smiles even more and looks down at her. "Just tell him I told you to do it."

She ran away, giggling furiously. "Hiei, what did you tell her?"

"I told her a good way to get on his nerves. I am not going to let our children wind up under Koenma's thumb like you have."

You, at first, didn't realize what he'd said. You were too busy being offended by the comment that Koenma has you under his thumb. Then you realize that everyone else is staring unblinkingly at Hiei. Which is funny, because Botan and Keiko had wandered into the room about the time he said children, which, unless they're all completely deaf, means they heard the word our.

"HIEI?!" asks everyone in the room. Including you and Kurama.

He looks at you all as if you're insane.

"Idiots," he barks, turning his back.

"You're their father?!" Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Keiko shout.

"Did you think she got pregnant on her own?"

"No, but-"

"Xume looks just like me- you people are complete fools for not being able to tell sooner."

You smile and sit back in your chair. Already, Botan, Keiko, and Yusuke are done staring at Hiei, and are now staring at you.

"Kali?"

"What? He's right, I cant get pregnant on my own."

"Yeah, we know- but- Hiei?"

You chuckle a little and pick your drawing back up. "We were fated. You can't help fate."

"You can't be serious," Yusuke says.

"If it makes you feel any better, detective, neither of us really had any control of ourselves. She wasn't kidding when she said that you cant help fate."

Hiei is grinning. Actually grinning. You laugh to see him in such good spirits about the whole thing- neither of you had spoken about it.

Botan and Keiko both sit down heavily. Kuwabara is still staring at Hiei, and Yusuke's still staring at you. Kurama's gone back to his book, or has, at least, pretended to, so he could laugh behind the cover.

Someone starts to say something, but s/hes interrupted by a loud shriek from Koenma, a cackle from Daniel, and a wolfish howl from Xume, and a buuuunch of scrabbling feet.

You're pounced by a two-and-a-half-foot tall boy, and Hiei's nearly knocked off the windowsill by a wolf flying into his lap. "Hiei! What did you tell her to do?"

Hiei's laughing, which surprises the shit out of you. But before he stops, Koenma comes in, wearing his teenage form, and looks back and forth between all of you. Then he spots Xume in Hiei's lap.

And what's funny is that Koenma freezes, and doesn't say anything. Everyone looks at him.

"Yes?"

"Kali, Xume just-"

"You'll have to talk to Hiei. He told her to do it."

He looks at Hiei, makes a face, and gulps.

"What did she do, Koenma?"

"Deh-uh-um-"

"Tell me that much, at least, I want to make sure she did it right."

"She gnawed one of the legs off my desk, and then knocked my chair over on the way out. I threw the book I had at her, but then she came back and knocked one of my bookshelves over, and when I was trying to fix it, she turned my DESK inside out!"

"Inside out?" Yusuke asks.

"Dess go BOOM!" Daniel says gleefully, grinning and standing on your lap.

"Then I suggest you don't hit her with anything else," Hiei says heatedly.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY FILES SHE OBLITERATED WHEN SHE DID THAT?!"

"No, and I don't care. Do not bring harm to my children, Koenma."

He freezes, then looks hard at the little girl in his lap, then looks at Hiei, then at you and Daniel.

"I will keep them from doing anything to intentionally provoke you, but any harm caused by you to them, you will regret. I promise," you say. You sound just as deadly as Hiei did, and Koenma swallows, goes pale, and runs.

"Thank you, Hiei," you say. He responds with a 'hn', but its not as cold as it used to be when he did that. You smile and start drawing again.


	70. Ready

_Ready_

You decide to go to your home. As soon as you hit the floor, you run straight to your room and slam the door and lay on your bed with your children, then you pull your snakes out of their various hiding places around your house and yard and introduce them to your children. Xume growls at them, so you scratch her behind her ears while she sits on your bed and growls. Daniel is coping with one of them, Aga, but the other two coil around you. One starts hissing in your ear.

[Wonderful children, wonderful, wonderful, they're beautiful and so strong.

"Thank you, Set. They're a handful, though. Nightmares."

[I wouldn't know, I eat my young too weak to fight against me, but then, yours pretty much stay helpless until they are adolescent?

[Hm. My dear, could you tell me something? Why's Xume afraid of us? the second one asks.

"I don't know. God, I'm sleepy."

[Don't sleep, something's about to happen.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

A pounding at your door sounds. You look up at the door, and you sniff lightly.

"What do you want, Ender!"

"Koenma wants you, and you need to go get your fucking communicator off the kitchen table!"

"The purpose of leaving my communicator there was keeping my ass out of his office while I came home to see my snakes!"

"Suck it up!" he responds. You growl and pick up the children and carry them with you to the portal. As soon as you land in his office, though, the communicator hits you in the head hard. You throw a paperweight from Koenma's desk back through and hear a yelp of pain.

"Kali, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," you answer annoyedly. "What do you want?" You sound angry. Daniel is squirming, but Koenma has already taught you to avoid letting your children play in his office.

"It's time to figure out what to do with them. They can deal with being handled by strangers, but they recognize that unfamiliar faces are bad."

"But I can't," you hiss through your breath. "They're just babies, Koenma."

"Kali, they walk, fight, and they can even use their energy, and they communicate better than most children at their physical ages do."

Your eyes start to water before you can stop them. "The energy use is perfectly unintentional, and they're still just babies! They're fuckin' toddlers, mentally speaking, and they don't know who to trust and who to not!"

"They're not safe with you, here, and you know it."

"They're plenty safe with me!"

"You have to find a way to keep them safe! You can't stay here any longer, and you can't stay at your home, either. Illegal demons, hunters, even my higher-ups, some of them, want them to raise for their own devices. They are going to corrupt the fate of the world, assuming, of course, that the prophecy is true, and it very well could be. This occurrence is damn near a physical impossibility! You're a Forbidden Child at least sixteen times over, all of these should have ended with execution which all sixteen ancestors escaped, not to mention that someone with as many species of demon as you shouldn't be able to have children, and Hiei should have died when they threw him off the island! Nothing about this could have been coincidence, everything was impossible about this, and it happened anyway, so we should assume all is true and protect these two with all our lives!"

"I am not letting anyone near them! You know full well that I would sooner die than let them out of my sight at this stage of vulnerability! The only other person I've ever left them with is their father, and that's because I know he's just as protective!" you shout, punching his desk. Daniel squirms some more, and starts to whine a little, but you put him on the floor, tying his wrist to the chair leg with a band of energy, having eventually picked the trick up from Kenshin. He looks up confusedly at you.

"I learn new shit all the time. Back to our fight."

"Kali, please, find somewhere besides here and your house to keep them! In fact, I suggest you keep them in the Makai."

"WHAT?!"

"The Makai. They will never find you if you retreat there. Some deserted island. There are lots of them there. Some were inhabited by demons, long ago, but there have been a few reasons they've been wiped out. Indeed, we had a base there for a while, on one island. The infamous Kiraa would never stay in the Makai, would she? We need to take some time and make it habitable again, but until then, you are to stay here unless otherwise noted."

"There is no way in hell I am staying in this mansion non-stop for so fucking long," you answer, glaring.

"No way in hell!" seconds Xume.

"Thank you, Xume. See, even they agree. And why the fuck do I have to be careful? How does anyone outside the Reikai know?" you demand, glaring at his desk, still standing from the last time you punched the lousy ass peice of wood and metal.

Koenma holds up one finger. You don't know why, but it's an obnoxious habit he has when he's about to tell you something that you should have known.

"Well, Kali, did you think that your enslavement would go unknown to the whole Makai? And the fact that you'd had children while under that enslavement? Kenshin would keep a secret, but his house has long since been looted, and not all demons are stupid. Word's leaked out. I'd suggest for you to simply say, if anything, that you've killed them yourself."

You feel your knees go weak at the very thought, and you sit down hard.

"Koenma... I couldn't even _say_ that without weeping like a little girl..."

"Only to make your ruse all the more believable. It will also help when you disappear, too. We can say your depression overwhelmed you and you killed yourself," he says. You growl slightly. He is right.

"Yes, Koenma, sir," you groan. He smiles with his eyes. "One more question. Do they know the kids' destiny?"

"No, but it doesn't matter much. No one really knows that you're such a mixed breed. You've killed everyone outside Spirit World that knows. But that doesn't stop them from being the children of the great and terrible Kiraa, now, does it?"

"Kiraa. Killer," you mutter, smiling slightly. "I still look human, but that "character" can only be a demon for her strength. Haha."

"Actually, Kali," Koenma says. "You've changed more than emotionally."

He pulls out a mirror and holds it out to you. When you look at your eyes, you realize that your pupil isn't in them anymore. Or... Well, it is, but it's not nearly as round as it once was. Now it's more like a hazy, thin, slightly darker spot in the center of your iris. Upon further examination, realize your mouth has fangs in it, and your lips have gained a bit more of a red color, and your hair is wilder, a little less tame, and it's sticking up more, even than when Kenshin had you. You notice that your face is developing a strange... well, lack of color to it, intensely pale.

"From what I can tell, you're aging. Several demons have children that appear to be humans until they reach the adult stage. That may be why you look the way you do, now. Or, perhaps, your demonic traits are responding to your emotions. You've never really been so emotionally torn up, not since you as good as lost your mother. That's when your energy flaired up to this level, is it not?"

You glare at the floor. You're hearing him, but not giving two shits, you're worried for your babies. He's right. You will have to go into hiding.

You close your eyes and feel a tear leak out and hit your lap. A hand places itself on your shoulder, but you shrug, in an attempt to make it go away. It doesn't. You look up to see Hiei.

"Ah, my reluctant lover," you sigh, putting your head in your hands.

"Hm."

Koenma settles back in his chair, and folds his hands, swapping to his teenaged form, probably to make it easier to dodge an attack and run, having longer legs.

"I know that this doesn't please you, either, Hiei, but you must part with her and your children to keep them safe. We already have an island to hide them on in the Makai, we just have to wait a while before we can let them go to it. You have approximately six months to spend with your mate and your children," he says carefully. You take another paperweight and throw it at Koenma, but he ducks it, and you hear it fly through the wall. You close your eyes and more tears leak out. Hiei's arms very slowly creep around you, as if he's unsure, and he puts his forehead into the base of your neck. You just sit, weeping very quietly for now. You hear the door open, and in an instant, Hiei's on his feet. The someone walks in, no hesitation. You look up at whoever it is. Kurama. He has a file in his hand. You glare at him and Koenma.

"Are your eyes bleeding?" Kurama suddenly asks.

"My tears are red," you answer. "They always were, you just never saw, before..."

"Why are you weeping?"

"I have to part with my mate, and you all, and, later, my children. Can you blame me?"

He shakes his head and looks at you mournfully, also.

"I'm not leaving for another six months, hopefully... But I'm not allowed to leave here. I have to keep my babies safe," you hiss.

You hear a soft "tink" on the ground behind you, but when you turn to look, you only just manage to see Hiei scoop the sound-maker into his hand and stand back up.

"Don't cry for me, Hiei, you'll make me feel worse," you wheeze. You stand up, take the little tie off the chair leg, and let Daniel lead you out of the room.

"Kali, wait," Hiei demands from behind you. You smile at him.

"What is it?"

He doesn't say anything, but he looks at your face and into your eyes. You sigh a little and smile. "Yeah, okay," you say, finally understanding. Six months isn't very long, but it will be even shorter if you spend the whole time whining about how little time you have left. You hug him and kiss his lips. He kisses you back, and you start back down the hall.

"You'd better be careful with them. If they wind up hurt because of you, I'll kill you in the most violent way possible," he warns. "Whether or not you are my children's mother."

"That's gonna take some creativity, Hiei, I know lots of violent ways to die."


	71. Your Children

_Your Children_

"I did not!"

"You did so!"

"If you two don't shut up RIGHT NOW, I swear to GOD, I'm going to kick BOTH your asses into NEXT WEEK!" you shriek at your children. The young girl and slightly-older-boy stare at you, looking like they're about to cry. They look roughly toddler-ish. But you know there's more going on in their heads than in the average toddler's. Smarter than the average demon. And stronger. They're nearly as powerful as you, but they don't have the control you do. And they're really truly growing up so fast. They got to this size in two months.

"We're sorry, Mommy," Xume says quietly. Mainly sorry because she knows you mean it.

"Yeah, Mommy, we're sorry."

"Look- it's okay if you just punch each other, okay? But it's too much on my head if you start screaming. Got it?" you say. You've been cranky. And you're too sore to move. You and Ender have been training for a while, trying to get yourself to another level to be able to protect your babies. Which are slowly but surely getting to your size.

Xume climbs onto your lap, smelling of wolf and of furs and blood. Daniel walks up and climbs into the chair and hugs your chest.

"Mommy, what's wrong?"

"Mommy's really sore, right now, Danny-boy," you murmur. "I've gotta get tougher, so I can go fight and make it safe for us."

"Are we in danger, Mommy?"

"I can't answer that, because you're not old enough to know."

"We are, too," Xume answers. "We'll just have nightmares for a long time if you do tell us. Yeah, we're in danger, or you woulda said 'no'." She looks up at you with a look of clean observation on her face, with a second appearance of innocence. You're surprised to see that look on a three-year-old's face.

"Judging by your answer, you are old enough to know. You're right. We are in danger. Constantly. I am, and you are," you say, kissing their heads and pulling them into hugs. "People don't like me. I've done some bad things, and some good things, but other people are mad at me for them. And since you two are my children... you're young, and weak, and you can't fight well, so you're easy targets."

"We are not!"

"Yeah!"

"If I was a bad person, I could pick you up and carry you away right now."

"Could NOT!" Xume shouts, getting up out of your lap and getting into a fighting position.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

You get up. Daniel slides off your lap and runs to Xume, and you duck into a fighting stance. They both stay still, until you rush at them. Daniel throws his hands up, but Xume runs through the barrier that he's made, and she punches you effectively in the lower abs. You grab her collar, though, and punch at her face, stopping short at her nose, and you thump it. She sighs and shudders.

"Mommy, I think I pissed myself," she says. You put her down.

"Go see if someone will train you. Or fight each other. That's good practice," you say, petting her head.

"I love you, Mommy."

"Yeah! And you're really cool!"

"Thank you."

"Oh, yeah. What's wrong with Daddy? He won't talk to us. He's been like that for a few days."

"I'll check on him later, sweety," you mutter, collapsing back into your recliner and stretching out. Daniel and Xume both climb up with you and lay down. You kiss both of them and close your eyes.

"KALI! PLEASE COME TAKE CARE OF YOUR OFFSPRING!"

"What are they doing?" you call back.

"They're fighting again! In the middle of the training room!"

You drag yourself up and stagger to the room where they're rolling on top of one another while Xu punches the shit out of Daniel, who is struggling to take hold of her wrists so she'll stop. A couple of other psychics are sitting on the ground, nursing wounds that look like bites or scratches.

"Hey, guys. Better idea. See who can run at one pace for longer. And then see who can pick up the most weight. And then see how many sit ups you can do with extra weight!" you offer, using your voice tones to make it seem like the best thing in the world.

"YEAAAHH!!" one screams. "I'll bet I can beat you at the treadmill!" Xume calls. You turn on your heels and drag your feet until you collapse in the living room couch on your face.

"Why me?" you ask the air. "I didn't do it. I really didn't."

* * *

Attention, WNL Readers 

Appearances! I have altered Kali, and I have yet to be very clear about the children's appearances.

Daniel:

Hair- So far, it's kind of about three to five inches long, and it's sticky-uppy all over the place, it's black on the tips, and the rest of it's the same color as yours. Growing quickly, though, and needing constant trims.

Eyes- One is the same color as yours, and the other is red, and they're shaped like yours. ((Imagine you in anime-style, any appearance you want. So... like... even if you want golden or purple eyes, you can have 'em.))

Height- Doesn't matter, he grows too quick to measure. At least an inch a day, pretty much.

Build- He's very skinny and scrawny, like he's not fed enough. Even if he eats six full meals a day.

Skin tone- The same color as yours before you got all white-pale. Unless you were white-pale to begin with. Which wouldn't surprise me. By the time you get to this point in the bloody story, I'll be surprised if you've not been bleached by the computer screen. You know. Like me. looks at moon tan and grins

Clothes- Usually jeans and t-shirts and stuff. Though you have to buy about three sizes too large. Good thing Koenma pays so well.

Alt- Pointy teeth.

Xume:

Hair- Black, with a nightmare streak in her bangs that she keeps in a braid. Her hair is flatter than her brother's and it rests the same way as yours. Wolf form has black fur with white on her belly and the tips of her ears.

Eyes- Red, similarly shaped to Hiei's, 'cept a little less beady. Even her wolf form has these.

Height- Growing too quick to keep track.

Build- A little meatier than her brother, but not much, she just doesn't look like she's composed of toothpicks.

Skin tone- Hiei's.

Clothes- Human form, obviously. Think Kouga from Inuyasha, only no samurai-ish armor, just furs. Her top-thing is white and goes over one shoulder and hangs down to her hips, where a skirt of the same fur is, wrapped around her and hangs and moves the same way as Hiei's cloak-thing. She occasionally wears stretchy capri-leggings as well, and has black and white leg wraps that are also fur. Never any shoes, but the pads on her feet prevent the need for them.

Alt- Pointy ears, she keeps elongated canines in human form, and, when she doesn't feel like getting rid of it, a tail. She can go completely human, but this usually takes too much effort. The completely human appearance has eyes the same color as yours.

You (A.K.A- Kali):

Hair- yours current color(s)/what you want yours to be, but more sticky-uppy than... you know... it was. Not standing on end, but... Like... more feral-looking, wildish... Like what happens if you use too much bodifying shampoo on short hair, or try to spike long hair with too little hair gel. ((Done both of those, it's very interesting.))

Eyes- Same color as yours/what you want yours to be, but the pupil is basically a darker shade of what your eye color is, and you can't really see it without looking hard enough.

Height- Whatever height you are/want to be.

Build- Well, this, I'm going to have to set myself. Considering your career, you're thin, and very well-built. Occasional scars across your skin, here and there. Everything besides the waistline and muscley-ness is yours to imagine.

Skin tone- Whatever it was/you wanted it to be, up 'til this point, because your skin has lost its color and is now an admirable sheet-white color without the purple undertone that being this color with a pulse brings. ((If your skin hasn't been bleached this color by the computer screen already, then just think about vampires. That.))

Clothes- Whatever you like to wear, 'cept skirts, 'cos you can't fight in those. Not well, anyway.

Alt- Fangs, also, and a strangely red lip color. And your fingernails have gotten tougher and grow quickly, and if they get long enough, they get pointy and can hurt people.

Just thought it might be necessary to do that, I've been designing the kids very clearly in my head. And I edited Kali/you.


	72. Training the Children

_Training the Children_

A month or so passes. Both of the children are being actively trained, now, instead of being left to fighting between themselves. Daniel looks a little older and bigger than Xume, but they share the same mentality. Xu's reached, physically, a five-year-old form, and Danny's gotten up to six-ish. Xu's teeth have begun to fall out and her adult teeth are coming in, too. You're surprised at how much she can whine about something as easy to tolerate as shifting teeth. Danny's being a late bloomer for his teeth, though. Which is funny, because he was born with teeth. You think. But anyway. You're looking for Hiei, now, because Daniel's discovered a new ability that you haven't trained with.

"Hiei, I need your help with Daniel," you say, looking into the living room and finally finding your quarry.

"Why?"

"He's a speed fighter, too, and I'm not one of those, I'm a use-various-tricks-up-my-sleeve fighter."

"What are you going to do about Xume?"

"She's just like me, fighter-wise. You might need to teach Daniel how to use an element or two. He enjoys zippos and thunderstorms a little too much to just be an energy-fighter."

Hiei gets out of his chair and vanishes, then reappears, carrying something in his pocket. You smile a little, then pick the fur-clad little girl up and push Daniel towards his father. The little boy smiles up at him.

"Anata, be nice to the boy, he can't help the way he acts, he's not been raised like us," you warn Hiei, giving him a firm look. "And he doesn't quite suffer the, you know, blood-thirst we do. Yet."

He smiles a little bit at you, but you detect something you don't appreciate in his expression. Probably that playful malice that's hiding itself in his eyes.

"Go easy for at least the first hour," you sigh. "Come on, Xume, we've gotta teach you to control your spirit gun."

To your relief, Hiei leaves his katana where it is, for a while, though you're sure he will wind up teaching Daniel weapon use eventually. Speed is better when you have a weapon. Without one, you stay on the defensive, and offensive is only a good thing when you can get them to where they can't block.

Xume is making decent progress. Her spirit-gun goes from a sawed-off-double-barreled-shotgun blast to a single-barreled-shotgun shot, a lot like yours. You don't know how to make it less powerful, from there, and you just start teaching her other tricks to use, like the wave through a fist, and a knife and so on and so forth. She doesn't have plant control, you're surprised to see, but she's also very young, and may not know how to control it, yet. She's fast, too, but she doesn't do defense too well. You spend a lot of time sparring the little girl.

She shoots the spirit gun at you, first, but you dodge pretty well and dart at her, but she uses her height to an advantage and ducks low to the ground like a wolf, letting her knees reverse with a sickening crunch sound, and runs right between your legs, and she gets back upright and shoots you again. The blast hurts like hell and knocks you onto your face. You get up and dart at her again, but this time, she jumps over you and lands on your shoulders and giggles and covers your eyes. You pull her off your shoulders, letting her know you aren't playing, and you throw her. She lands and skids on her back, but gets up and dashes at you and uses her shoulder to ram you right in the solar plexus, then twists and kicks away from you. You catch her, but you're still winded.

In the process of your fight, she figures out new tricks with her energy through sheer creativity. She waves her arm and sends a whole wave of energy at you. You can't do anything to dodge it, so you duck and cover.

The attack wounds you to the point where you just kind of don't want to get up, so you flop onto your side and heave for breath.

"Mommy! MOMMY!" she calls, jumping onto your stomach and hugs your neck. "MOMMY, ARE YOU OKAY?!"

"I'm fine, stop screaming," you groan, getting to your feet and turning to watch Hiei and Daniel. Daniel is spending more time blocking and dodging than he is attacking, so you step up and smile a little. Hiei stops attacking your son, and you push him gently out of the way.

"Let us show you, kids, how you're supposed to fight.

Hiei smirks and gets into his fighting stance again, just as you duck into yours. The two of you run at each other and meet in the middle. His katana comes down to meet you when you get there, but you catch it on your arm, now glowing with your currently-red energy. He punches at your chest while he's trying to break your makeshift grip on his sword, but you catch his fist, too, and swing a knee up to his middle, then you ram your head into his. He staggers back, then jumps at you again. You somersault clear over him and kick him in the back of the head on the way, and you land behind him, just like Xume did, and you run at him and throw him as he's running at you again, and he slides on his feet. You look over at the kids, now finished.

"COOL!" they say in sinc.

"Danny-boy, did you see how Mommy did that?" you ask, kneeling and beckoning him over. "You have to fight back. Block and counter, don't just block, boy."

You punch at him. He catches your fist with a cup of energy in his hand, and steps away from you. You start punching at him over and over, not actually trying to hit him, until you realize that he can take anything you throw at him, he's just as strong as Xume, if not stronger, and he is tougher than nails. You know it. And if Xume could kick your ass, so can he.

"Hit me!" you demand, punching at him again, and catching his chin.

"Mommy!" he starts to whine.

"Hit me back, Daniel!"

"Mommy!" There are tears leaking out of his eyes. You punch him again, this time in the stomach. He yelps, not in pain but in surprise. It doesn't hurt nearly as badly as he thinks it does, you know it, you're barely hitting him.

"Hit me back, or I'm not going to stop," you growl. He catches three more punches at him, then he lunges at you and punches you back, over and over again, hitting you as many times as you hit him, you're sure, and he keeps going until you manage to throw him away from you.

"Good boy," you say as you spit blood out of your mouth.

"Mommy, did I hurt you?" he asks, wide-eyed.

"Just... a few... bruises..." you sputter. "Good boy, very good boy." You kiss his face and get to your feet, realizing how bad it hurts to move. "Aaaghh... kay..."

Hiei helps you stand up, and he leads you to a patch of shade and sits with you for a second.

"Are you okay, Mommy, did he hurt you, do you want me to hurt him back??" Xume's asking rapidly.

"I'm fine, I'll get over it in a little while."

"He seems to be more like you in that area. Only he doesn't fight back at all until he feels really threatened," Hiei mumbles.

"We need to fix that."

"Or we can teach him what's threatening. I think he would have snapped sooner if it weren't you he was fighting."

You shake your head. "It could be anyone that wants them. Even someone that can imitate others' appearances. I've only got half my trust in Koenma on this matter, and I wouldn't trust any other Spirit World employee outside the team and Koenma with my training gear, much less my children." He pauses only for a second, but he nods in silent agreement. You sigh, then hold an arm out and wave your hand in a 'come hither' gesture. "Hey, Daniel! Are you okay?" you call. He nods. He's not even got any red marks. "Come here, son, I gotta tell you something."

He walks over and sits on your lap, and you kiss his head. "Danny-boy, you gotta promise me--"

"I won't hit you ever again, Mommy! I won't, I promise!" he shouts frantically, looking desperately apologetic at you.

"I'm fine, little man, don't worry about me! That's not what I want. What I want is for you to learn when you gotta fight. Okay? If anyone tries to hurt you or your sister, I want you to do to them what you just did to me, got it? Only make sure they don't get up, no matter how hurt they look. If anyone tries to hurt you or your sister, you hurt them until they can't move anymore. If they make any noises besides breathing, you keep hitting them, even if they're on the ground. I know I taught you to leave your sister alone if she's on the ground, but anyone else, you keep hitting and kicking your brains out."

"But... I don't wanna hurt people..."

"You might have to, Dan. There's almost no way around that. You have to protect your sister and yourself. Okay? Do not hesitate like you just did if someone's trying to hit you. Don't stop to think. Don't wait. Just hit them. Got me?"

"Y... Yes ma'am..."

"The next time you fight your sister, I better see some blood out of her, too."

"Mommy, I dun wanna hurt her!"

"You have to learn. Got it?"

He stares up at you with those big eyes, and you hug him again. "And always remember, both of you. You can't hurt me by hitting me. The only way, and the worst way, you can hurt me is if you let yourself or your sister get hurt by anyone else. Always know that. I can take any punch anyone gives me, but I feel every punch that anyone gives you."

He hugs you, and you hear and feel his tears falling down to the ground and bouncing. The tear gems are yellow-white. You hug him tighter, and when you release him, he keeps his hold on you, though the tears have stopped.

"Danny, I'm okay," you sigh. "I'll be okay. And so will you."

"I don' wanna hurt people! I don' wanna have to be safe! I don' wanna be in danger! Why'd you have to get us in danger!" he demands, glaring sadly up at you. You hug him and pet his head.

"Danny, we're okay. We'll be okay."

He sighs heavily as Xume climbs onto your lap, also, and hugs Daniel.

"It's okay, Dan-Dan, I'll keep us safe, and Mommy and Daddy will keep us safe."

"Damn straight," you answer. "And if Mommy and Daddy mess up at keeping you safe, you'll be able to take care of yourselves, come hell or high water."


	73. Progress

_Progress_

All of you are sitting in the living room again. You've been packing for a long time, but you're taking a well-earned break. You don't have to move for another two months anyway. Daniel's sitting on Yusuke's lap, and, suddenly, Yusuke yelps in pain and nearly throws Daniel off his lap. Dan sits on the floor, holding his jaw.

"My mouth hurts," Daniel whines.

"When your teeth are that sharp, that tends to happen. Any falling out yet?"

He bares his razor-sharp, pointed teeth, and points at the front left two. You smirk at him.

"That's why your mouth hurts, silly boy. Your new teeth'll be bigger, and your mouth has to make room, or your mouth'll look all ugly. I'd hate to get bitten, though, by a mouth that sharp."

He grins proudly, and Yusuke looks at his still-bleeding hand.

"It's like that time I got bit by Keiko's rat."

"He's not a rat, he's a GERBIL!" Keiko shouts, hitting Yusuke in the head. Yusuke winces, then picks Daniel up again.

"Don't hit me while I'm holding a kid!"

"Then put him down!"

To end the fight, Ender produces a deck of cards, and Kuwabara grins. "Hey! Strip Poker!"

"Kuwabara, not only am I not interested in seeing you or Yusuke naked while I'm sober, seeing as I will probably never be able to forget, I am not sure that anyone else is, either."

"Hey, shut up!"

"I vote for Rummy. Or Crazy Eights."

"All for rummy," Ender says, raising his hand. Yours goes up, and so does Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Botan. Your kids are sitting on the floor, looking puzzled. You smirk at them. Yusuke pulls Xume into his lap and starts helping her play. Daniel pulls on Hiei's cloak, but Hiei ignores him, so he goes over to you. You look at him for a minute, then pick him up and put him on your lap.

"Don't say any of my cards out loud, son."

"'kay," he answers. You grin slightly.

"Good boy."

Final scores, you have six hundred, Xume has three-twenty, Hiei has five fifty five, Kurama has seven hundred eighty, Kuwabara has two hundred fifteen, Daniel got two hundred twenty-five, Yusuke has four hundred eighty five, and the girls have teamed up ((since they had no chance whatsoever against such strategists. And Yusuke and Kuwabara. Not to mention they kept talking about their hands to each other.)) have four hundred five.

"No fair!" Yusuke shouts. He's probably just angry because Xume started after he did, was not taught how to play on purpose, and she still managed to score ahead of him.

"Yeah, you guys cheated!" Kuwabara agrees. He's probably just angry because EVERYONE out-scored him, including the three girls and your children.

"No, Kuwabara, you're just slow," Hiei answers.

"I am not!"

"You are so!"

"AAGH! MOMMY! XUME HURT ME!" Daniel shouted suddenly, interrupting the fight by running to your lap and climbing into it.

"So WHAT?!" Xume demands. "You hurt me, too!" she whines, going over to Hiei and sitting in his lap.

"Daniel has more right to whine," you point out. "He's bleeding. You're not."

"Bruises hurt longer," she says. "Unless you keep the wound open and stuff keeps winding up in it," she adds as she scratches her head behind her ear. "Or unless it's road rash."

"What would you know of road rash?" Ender challenges.

Both children look at each other, then grin, though they try to maintain their look of innocence at the same time. And fail. You and Hiei could never really pass off as innocent, either, you think, so why should they?

"What have you two done?" you ask, quirking your eyebrows.

"We're not TELLING!" Daniel says, jumping onto the doorway, clinging to it, grinning, until he falls. He suddenly stops falling, just above the ground, and flies up and hits the ceiling. Yusuke catches him before he hits the ground.

"Wow."

"What was that?"

"He has wind elemental powers," you mutter.

"Good thing, too. He can't fight for shit," Xume answers.

You laugh. "Can't he? Can he use any other element? Or can you?"

"I can do anything with my energy," she says proudly, pointing her finger at you and firing off her gun. You catch the bullet, but your hand is damaged, and you have trouble moving it. The wraps around it are gone, for some reason.

"Xume... darling...?" you ask. "How much... power... did you use...?"

"Just a little... I was just trying to show you," she says. Her seven-year-old face shines with innocence and apology.

"It's okay. You just have a lot of power, just like your daddy and me."

"Thank you."

You and the rest start talking idly, wasting time, none of you really listening to one another, but all of you are stopped when Xume pounces on Daniel, apparently for no reason whatsoever. You watch them duke it out, punching and kicking and blocking and growling and biting and scratching. Several yelps of pain are heard, and suddenly, both of them fly back and hit the floor, then jump back up and start at each other again. You realize that they're starting to frenzy.

"Guys!" you shout as Xume slips back to her wolf form, and as Daniel's suddenly-grown claws tear at her fur. Several cries of pain are heard, until Hiei stands up and pulls them apart, holding the nape of both children's necks, and he pushes them to the ground. They writhe, trying to get free and kick at the ground and pound their fists.

"Lemme GO!" Daniel shouts. His eye is bleeding, and so is his nose.

Xume changes back to her humanoid form and punches Hiei's arm. "He made me break my TOOTH!" she shouts indignantly, bleeding out the mouth terribly. She's got a cut on her forehead, too, but you don't think she knows it. Hiei shifts where he's kneeling and keeps them pinned, not letting them up. Daniel twists and wriggles until he manages to grab Hiei's arm, pulling it off his neck and sinks his teeth into it. Xume uses the distraction caused by her brother to free herself and sink her teeth into Hiei's shoulder, scratching him and clinging to him. Daniel is the most easily shaken, but he catches himself off the ground. Xume, however, is clinging tightly. Hiei bangs her hard into the wall, three times, until she finally lets go. The kids sit down on the floor and settle there, and Hiei moves back to his place next to you.

[They're ours, huh? you tease.

[Why the hell did you have to go and get pregnant?

[Hmph. Not my fault you're verile.

Both of you stare at the other one, both glaring, and the kids look at each other.

"Looks like they're fighting again," Daniel says with a grin, as if completely forgetting the bite wounds on his arm.

"Hey! I wanna go eat!" Xume says suddenly as she licks the blood off the corner of her mouth.

[Definitely ours.


	74. Reluctant Lovers

_Reluctant Lovers_

You and Hiei walk slowly along a stream you discovered in the Makai. You're a little harder to recognize, and this part of the Makai is occupied by weaker demons that won't bother you. It was his idea, but you had to make him come. It's been five months. You're leaving in three weeks. It's been scheduled. Neither of you has said anything in the three hours you've been walking, except through the communicator to Yusuke and Kurama, the current babysitters for the children, who now look eight and ten.

Eventually, you stop walking and sit down on the side of the water. Hiei sits next to you. You lean and put your head in his lap. ((Not that way, damn you.)) He puts his hand on your head and plays lightly with your hair and scratches the scalp gently. You look up at him and smile.

"Aishiteru, Hiei."

He looks down at you, and he smiles ever so slightly back, and his mouth moves, but no sound comes out. His lips move to echo the word that you had said.

A tear gem falls into his lap. Your own red tears fall out of the corners of your eyes, too.

You cradle the gem on your necklace in your fist, and you look up to see Hiei's two gems on his necklace, his own and his sister's. You sit up and take his katana, before he can stop you, and you cut the palm of your hand three times, and put it in his sheath.

The blood leaking out of your cuts begins to coagulate as it rolls out of your hand, and eventually becomes three smooth, shining jewels, a lot like black rubies, and you cut your hand a fouth time and let this one bleed for longer, making it about the same size as the tear gems already on Hiei's necklace.

You take his necklace off him and fix the jewel onto the necklace, then put it back on him. He looks at the dark-red ruby, looking at it like he doesn't know what else to do. You kiss his cheek and lay back down and wait for your hand to stop bleeding.

On the way back, you two share another kiss.

**Botan**

"Aren't they so sweet?" you squeal. Yukina and Keiko are with you, watching the screen. They specifically asked you to leave them to their own devices, but how could you resist? Both Hiei and Kali being romantic! And it was a romance story fit for a Greek tragedy!

Yukina smiles at you, but looks a little sad.

"They told us to leave them alone, Botan-san..."

"Oh, don't worry, it'll be fine as long as they don't find out."

"Besides, they're so cute!" Keiko seconds. "I've never seen either of them act so sweet."

Then Kali cuts her hand on Hiei's sword. All three of you go pale, not sure what she's doing until she holds out the jewels and puts one on Hiei's necklace. All of your heads start tilting.

"That's... so... weird..."

"Botan, what are you doing?" Koenma asks from behind you.

"Watching them," Yukina answers.

"They're so weird! I've never seen anybody be romantic like that... They're so quiet, and the only kissing I've seen is that one that Kali just gave Hiei on his cheek. He hasn't kissed her yet, at all! And... she just... cut herself to give him the rock that her blood makes!" Keiko whines.

"What did you expect?"

"Something a little less... gross," you answer.

"The most affection either of them has shown anyone is minimal, and, between them, a few kisses. Gifts are the only thing they can give to each other, they're both afraid to show more than that. They know the other one cares, and that's good enough for each of them. I'm surprised they've been so loving to the children."

"I'd go insane!" Keiko says.

"You are insane," you answer, smiling teasingly. She pokes your eyes. You rub them and whine a little.

When you look up, you see Kali and Hiei's faces on the screen, glaring. Kali's flipping you off, and, as if to tease, Hiei's smirking. She looks at Hiei and says something, and they lunge at each other and start to fight.

"Mommy and Daddy are fighting again," you hear Xume say matter-of-factly from somewhere near your hips. You jump in surprise to hear her.

"They're playing. That's how they play," Koenma answers.

You see Kali grin and shoot the camera and the whole screen goes staticky.

**You**

You shoot out the camera in the process of playing with Hiei on accident, which is fine by you. He tackles you and pins you, sitting on your waist and hips, pinning your arms over your head. You laugh and roll, using his grip on your wrists to pin him as well. He laughs as well, and you get to your feet and brush yourself off. He tackles you again and uses his knees to keep you from rolling again.

"I win," he informs.

"Uh huh," you say slyly with a nod, before you basically throw him off you and put him on the ground by flipping up and landing on him. "Gotchya."

He stretches his head up to meet yours, and your noses brush, and he turns his head a little and kisses you. You kiss him back, and you stay there for a bit, kissing, until you finally break the kiss and pull him up and start walking again.


	75. New Home

_New Home_

"Ouch. Ouch. Prick. Ouch. Damn. Damn. Damn. I'm. Going. To kill. You. Hiei."

"Come on, now, it can't be that bad," Ender says as he helps pick the bones out of the flesh.

"How about I stab your shoulder, shatter your shoulder blade, and take twenty four hours to FIX IT?!"

"Oh."

It _was_ a last semi-date/walk through the Makai, until one of you started a fight, and he accidentally stabbed through your shoulder blade when something caught his legs and he fell on you. Stupid, you decided, to have tried to have a touchy-feely moment between the two of you, even if you are going to have to stay good-bye to him for a very long time.

Hiei, and Yusuke are sitting near your hospital bed. You're groaning in pain and have already burst six stress balls in an attempt to keep from strangling the nurses as they poke and prod at your shoulder to pull the bits of bone that are sticking out of the sword wound. Hiei's stayed very clear of your arm's reach, and he keeps making sure that you're not really about to kill him.

But even so, he seems most worried, though he's being so very discreetly. With every sound of pain, you notice that his fingers twitch, and at every sudden movement, his eyes dart to the offender, and one hand stays at his katana hilt the whole time, but not gripping it, yet.

"Urgh," you mention idly at the pain in your shoulder some more. Hiei's fingers twitch again. The kids come running in and hug your legs.

"Mommy! Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine in a minute. Get off my legs," you say simply. Hiei picks Xume up and puts her on his lap, to your surprise. She clings to him and grins, turning to her wolf-self and looking like a very happy puppy. Daniel climbs up in Hiei's lap, too, and sit there, hugging Hiei's ribs.

"Daniel's looking more like you," Yusuke says. Hiei smirks.

"Xume will probably stay looking like me, though," Hiei says simply.

"Probably. She's young, yet. She's got more of my jawline. Thank god."

"What's that mean?" Xume asks.

"It means your father has a fat head," you answer. Hiei stands up and glares at you. Xume lands on her feet on the ground and turns to you, then to Hiei.

"It's not nice to fight girls, Daddy. Kuwabaka told me so."

"His name is Kuwabara." You dig in your ear as you speak.

"It is?"

"Yes. Daddy and I just say Kuwabaka. Kuwabara is an idiot, most of the time, but that's no reason not to listen to him, sometimes. You can fight girls if she's a fighter and can take care of herself. If she's not a fighter, you should leave her alone."

"Oh. Well, Daddy, she's hurt and she can't take care of herself. You can't fight her!" Xume says curtly, crossing her arms and standing adorably in front of your legs.

Hiei sits down calmly, looking evenly at Xume, but she crosses her arms more firmly and settles in front of you, narrowing her eyes.

"The wolf has spoken," you mumble. Ender accidentally hurts your shoulder, and you turn and punch him in the face with your good arm. "Aaagh... I'm going to kill you," you say through your gritted teeth. Ender gets up slowly and rubs his nose, then starts to leave the room.

"I still can't believe that you had kids. But it doesn't surprise me, much, that you two were fated," he mutters. "You're so alike."

You move onto your island and venture into its village. The village was long since abandoned, but it is still youngish. Houses and things are left, though in various states of decay. The fountain in the middle of the town is dry and dirty, the town hall has vines creeping up it, the houses still have furniture that is falling to peices, and the roofs are falling in, except one. It seems to be very well taken care of.

"Ah, I see," you murmur, going into the house. Already furnished and everything. It is delightful. You walk through. Big house. Thirty rooms, you dare to guess, and several bathrooms, including a couple very fancy ones. You smile slightly.

"You mean we get to live here?!" Daniel screams, running around the house wildly, shouting at the top of his lungs with his delight.

"Who's going to live here, Mommy?" Xume asks quietly. "You, Daddy, Uncle Ender, Yusuke, or... who?"

You feel slightly heartbroken. "What are you worried about?"

"Are you going to be here?"

"Yes."

"Is Daddy?"

"I don't know, honey," you mutter, kissing her head. She sits down on the floor and puts her head on her hands and doesn't move. You sigh slightly and pet her head, then go to fetch Daniel as something breaks.

Daniel has glass in his foot. It's making more of a mess than you wish it would in the first three hours. So you use a bit of your coat sleeve to wipe it up and stop the bleeding of his foot by pressing it to the floor. It's bleeding pretty badly, which seems to be the only problem he has with the wound. He's a lot stronger than he seems, you guess.

"S'a good one," you mutter, picking him up after the blood stops flowing, and you start picking the glass out. It starts bleeding again, but you tie it off with a ripped off bit of your shirt, and you kiss his head, sending him on his way.

"Hey, Xu!" Daniel calls.

Truth is, you have no intention to bring Hiei. He can't come and go from this place as he pleases, and he can't stay, and he can't disappear from Spirit World like you and the children can. You can have gone mad because of what Kenshin has done to you, and your children and/or yourself could have been killed by yourself, your teammates, any particularly strong demons... But his being the paternal figure to the children, and disappearing at the same time as you would be suspicious.

You're pulled back out of your thoughts when you hear a loud hollow sound and a wolfish yelp of pain, and you have to go rescue whatever Xume's in the process of breaking.


	76. One Hell of a Proposal

_One Hell of a Proposal_

You have to drop Spirit World connections to a few visits a month from the Reikai Tantei and your family, and those must be very discreet. You don't mind that. You prefer being alone, actually. The kids enjoy the house, but they miss the others, so, on occasion, they're smuggled out of the house and off the island. You are always very careful, and so is everyone else, but the worry is never far from your mind.

Almost three months go by. The children are getting older by the day, and you teach them as they grow, and it's getting easier and easier as you get more and more used to it.

You've almost stopped aging entirely. You haven't aged a day since the children were born, really. Daniel's gotten to your size and age, physically, though his mental growth seems to be in sync with Xume's, and both of them are getting stronger by the day. You train daily, having to do so to keep up with the children's growing powers. Schooling them is simple, you haven't really needed to teach them much. They understand human and demon nature alike, watching the other creatures on the island while they hide their energy. You teach them how to pretend they don't have any power at all, and, like yours, it disappears. You venture out, now and again, as Tamiko. You're not recognized at all without a cloak, and your mouth being visible, and your eyes different from before, and the altered skin color.

Hiei will, occasionally, show up late at night, but otherwise, you're completely shut off from your lover, mate, and best friend.

One of these nights, you're laying in a very relaxing bath, staring hard at the wall, humming to yourself while the kids are asleep in the their room. They, unlike you, don't change bedrooms every night, and they sleep in a secret windowless room, well furnished and everything, that stays locked on the inside, and blends in perfectly with the rest of the hall's walls. You hear his footsteps tapping through the house, until he reaches the bathroom, and doesn't knock when he comes inside. You don't bother ducking under the water.

"Hello, Anata," you hum a little as you turn the water off.

"Hn," he answers.

You swing your gaze up to him and smile a little. "Is that any way to greet your mate?"

"We hardly count as mates," he mumbles, sitting down against the wall to your right.

You laugh to yourself. "Why not? We're still together. It's been at least a year, hasn't it? We've even had children."

"That was an unwanted chance occurance."

"Well, lucky for your unhappy ass, I can't have kids anymore. Something about one of the races or something, only being able to get pregnant once. S'why I never got my period back." ((Just go with me, here. S'like my dream to not suffer stupid visits from Aunt Flo.))

"There were only supposed to be two heirs," he mumbles. You look at him, and suddenly realize that something is on his mind.

"What is it, Hiei?"

"The whole of the Reikai is buzzing. We have kept your location hidden, and Koenma has made it very very secret that you are even alive, but I think they know something more."

"There's something else on your mind. That's what you were talking about last time you visited. There's something new bothering you."

He rubs his nose and fidgets. Now he has your full attention, because he's never done anything even similar to squirming, even in the face of crippling pain.

"Is it bad or good?"

"I don't know."

He gets to his feet, and you notice that he's fondling something in his pocket, and you suddenly notice that it's a small box. You understand, now, and smile.

"We can face an army without a wince, but when it comes to confessing our feelings, we're goners, huh, Hiei?" you ask in a lower voice than you mean to.

He hides his face uncharacteristically and tosses you the ring.

"One hell of a proposal," you giggle, finally, looking at the gold band and slipping it on your finger. "Do we get a wedding, or is this just marking ourselves as mates?"

"You can't come out of hiding to get married," he answers.

"That's a no on the wedding, then, isn't it," you giggle and sigh. "Damn. Both my mothers and a few of my rescue-ees promised me they'd dance at my wedding."

He smiles at you. Truly smiles. You smile back, then gesture at the other half of the tub, but he shakes his head and ducks it, as if he suddenly remembered or realized that you were in the bath.

"Hand me that towel on the rack, would you, Hiei?" you ask as you start letting the water out.

He tosses you the towel as you get to your feet, and you wrap it around you and go to your room. He follows you.

As you're getting dressed, you feel his hand on your shoulder interrupt you. You turn to face him, and almost instantly, his mouth is pressed to yours, and his tongue makes its way into your mouth, and he pulls you back toward the bed, and he helps you straddle his waist as he sits down. Somehow, between the two of you, his cloak is removed. Your lips don't leave his the whole time.

Once one of you finally breaks the kiss, mainly for air, you lean your weight forward on the bed and kiss him again, pressing against him. He wraps his arms around you. One of your hands wraps itself around him, and the other busies itself with his trousers while you surpress a chill coming from the wonderful sensation of his fingertips on your spine. One hand makes its way up your waist, to your ribs, to your breast, and it teases the flesh there gently, before he cups the whole thing in his palm and squeezes lightly as he kisses you again.

His belt gives way, either having come undone or broken, and your hand ventures down, until you feel where his shaft begins, and you trace down the length of it with a fingernail, very gently. He grows slightly harder at the touch. He lets out a small gasp, and one of his hands makes its way down to your rump, and he gives it a light squeeze, before he moves it to the front, and he cups your sex in his hand, massaging the lump of flesh lightly, at first, then getting a little rougher.

You, in turn, take a grip on him, and you feel him swell a little more, and you pet him more, and both of your mouths meet. He accidentally, you think, bites your lip in the process, and you laugh and bite his, back. He slides a finger down there and starts to move it in a "come hither" motion. You have to shift, and when you do so, he rolls so he's on top, on all fours over you. He slips a second finger in, and you wrap your legs around his, as you feel his length press against you, until, slowly but surely, he enters you and presses his hips close to yours. You're rocked by a spasm of pleasure, and you roll your back and hips up against his. The two of you kiss again, and you start working against each other, rolling once in a while to share the weight of the one on top, going and grinding harder and faster against one another, until both of you release quiet and expressive moans and sighs, and you fall back against the bed and lay there.

After a minute, you get up to go clean yourselves up, and you get dressed and lay with him for a little while, listening to his heartbeat while you have your head on his chest and enjoy the feeling of his arms around you.

Almost immediately after you fall asleep, you hear a scream, and both of you are on your feet in an instant, and you just get to the kids' room when the door opens. A little face peers up at you, Xume, and she lunges for you and hugs your waist, sobbing miserably.

"Oh, Mommy, Daddy!" she moans. You pick her up and hug her.

"What happened?" Hiei asks. She pushes off you and into Hiei's arms.

"I was so scared, Daddy, and I woke up, and it went away, but then I went back to sleep, and it came back, Daddy, it came back!"

"What happened, sweetheart?" you whisper, petting her hair.

"It was so scary, Mommy... It was dark, except for around me, I couldn't see, I couldn't see anything at all, it was so scary, and then I saw Danny, and I saw you, and I saw Daddy, and all of a sudden, you were gone, and I could see all around me, everything around me, even me, and I saw you and Danny and Daddy again, only you were sleeping, and I couldn't wake any of you up, and then I woke Daddy up and he jumped at me and he bit my neck and I woke up, and I couldn't see, and I was so scared, Mommy, I was so scared!!"

She speaks so fast that it takes you a second or two to understand her, but you gather that she's had a nightmare. She lets go of your neck and reaches over for Hiei, and you let him take her from you.

"Is Xu okay?" Daniel asks when you poke your head in the door. You see his eyes reflecting the hall light, red and yellow pinpoints in the dark, and you walk over and pet his head.

"Xu's fine. She didn't scare you or anything when she woke up, did she?"

"No."

"Tell me the truth."

"... Yes."

"Good." You hug him and kiss his forehead. "If she ever screams like that again, you better be helping her, 'kay?"

"Why, Mom?"

"Because of the people that might be after you. You have to keep your sister safe. Just remember that there's nothing wrong with being afraid, as long as you take care of what needs to be taken care of. The only way to hurt me is to let you or Xu get hurt, and if you hurt me, odds are, you won't survive to brag about it."

You smile and pick him up and take him to another room with you, where Hiei's already sitting with Xume in her wolf form. She's got her head propped up on his lap, and he's scratching her head. You smile, and Daniel rests his head on your shoulder while you sit against the headboard. All four of you wind up falling asleep. ((Awwww!))


	77. Caught

_Caught_

Ages pass.

You lose track of time as it passes. Daniel looks like an adult of eighteen or nineteen years, even though he's naught but ten or eleven, mentally speaking, now, and can tend to act it every once in a while. His mental growth slowed down a lot. It matches Xume, actually. He still needs you. Xume seems to prefer her humanoid shape, but she transforms every now and again. She looks about twelve in her humanoid form, and she acts her apparent age.

Someone knocks on the door. Xume and Daniel are playing in what has been deemed their play room. You listen and smell. The only one that ever knocked at your door is Kurama, and you don't smell that rose scent. You crack the door.

You yelp as you're thrown against the wall by a whole bunch of powerful psychics. You can't tell how many, but you know that there can't be less than twenty, seeing as they're able to pound you against the wall like that. You start to fight, but several darts, arrows, and needles hit you, and, slowly but surely, your power starts to fade. You struggle to fight them away from you, but you make no progress.

"XUME! DANIEL! DON'T BE AFRAID TO FIGHT!" you shout before someone punches your face. A few psychics run into the room and dash up the stairs. You get a good look at a few of the psychics and realize that they're from Spirit World.

"They're ours," the one that punched you says with a greedy smile on his face. At first you think he's talking to you, but when you get a good look, he's talking to the people behind him.

"Bullshit, they are. They know how to get past you shits."

"They're a couple of demon children. How hard can they be to control?"

"They're _my_ demon children. You're fucked," you answer, narrowing your eyes.

You hear Xume scream, and Daniel calls, "MOM!" A surge of energy strikes you, and you struggle to peel yourself off the wall, and you only get half down the hall before they manage to pin you again. You hear a couple of screams, not from your children, and three thuds.

"YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO! RUN!"

"But-!" Xume begins. You see her at the first landing on the stairs, holding her brother's hand tightly.

"You rats better get your asses out of here, now, before you let them hurt me. You both know full well the only way to hurt me is to let yourselves or your sibling get hurt. They can't hurt me without your help. Now run!"

You feel tears welling in your eyes as both leave your veiw, and you hear them run to a window, jump through it, and flee the house. A few psychics take off after them, but you hear both of them pound into the wall after a cry of fear from Xume from outside. You settle against the wall.

"You're fucked. I win," you mutter. "You should have waited and been a little less direct, I taught them well that the worst pain for me to suffer is theirs."

A bit of blood creeps down your chin when someone else punches you, but you're too busy praying that the twins will be okay. You weren't lying when you said they can't hurt you without the kids' help. Even without your power, both punches were almost completely painless.

When you try to get rid of their grip, you can't. You're too weak to manage to push them away, especially now that they're safe, and you know it. They're using all they have available to keep you pinned, too, which is everyone besides the three they sent to get your children the first time, and the two that hit the wall a while ago when Xume shot them there. There are about thirty-two in your living room, and even more outside.

You hear someone, one of Koenma's highest higher-ups, approaching.

"What're you gonna tell Koenma? And the team?" you ask, narrowing your eyes.

"You three were kidnapped and killed by a team of renegade demons," he answers, playing with your hair teasingly as a form of getting you back for the twins' escape.

"Maybe you should stick with "disappeared". They'll see right through your idea. Except, maybe, Kuwabara. Renegade demons can't kill the three most powerful things on the planet, I go straight to Class S with a bad temper when I'm scared for the kids, and they're both Class S, whether or not they use their powers," you mutter, glaring. "You're welcome to stick with that story, but you're liable to get caught if you use it."

He makes a face, then punches you himself. You take it, then extend your energy and try to push them away, but the drugs are affecting you too deeply.

"She's right, boss. It's taking all of us to hold her still, much less kill her, and we're the strongest you've got, and she's drugged. That stuff should have completely knocked her flat, but all that's happened is enough energy damage to hold her back."

"Actually, dear, I am the strongest you've got," you say, glaring at the one that spoke.

He glares maliciously and hisses, "You were."

You growl and push yourself off the wall, screaming. They all back away, scared, but nothing happens. You laugh. Your hair, since grown back in the months you've been free of Kenshin, hangs in your face so you can't see, and you can't push it out of your face.

"Gheh," you mutter as you blow it out of your face. Then you see their terrified faces and laugh at them. "You're scared of me, even when I am helpless," you say.

You abruptly feel unconsciousness creep in as someone taps into your mind.

"Tank her. She'll be a pretty good study subject. Make sure she stays very heavily sedated, and very heavily protected," you hear a voice mutter as you hit the floor. "And someone find the children, they have to be somewhere on this island!"

_They better_ not _be on the island, I'll kill their punk asses and follow 'em to the next world and kick their asses into wishing they were in limbo!_ you think. They should be, if they didn't hesitate too much, halfway back to a mainland to get to the hidden communicator to find Ender and Hiei. They're safer there, anyway, closer to help, you decide as you're dragged onto a stretcher, strapped down, and carried away.

As they carry you, you wait to wake up, but you know it's not a dream. You know it's happened, finally, they found you and they're taking you and they're trying to take the children, but they can't find the children, they're safe. A vibration from your communicator in your back pocket tells you so. They're back with the team, right now, and they'll be taken care of. Hiei or Ender or Yusuke will take them and hide with them, as pre-arranged.

You fight the nightmares as they attack you, you fight unconsciousness as it attacks you, and you struggle to stay awake. Something starts to hurt, and you scream until it all fades to nothing.


	78. The End

Yo. Sooo... This is the end of this one. I HAVE a sequal I wrote, but I don't like it, so I won't be posting it. Plus, people whined that I made them cry, last time I posted it on quizilla, so...

But, yeah. T'end. You should go read Indestructible. It's much better, as far as writing goes. Mainly 'cos I wrote this one a loooong time ago.

Ja ne.

-R.F.

* * *

_The End  
_

**Hiei**

The shrieks from Xume makes every hair on your whole body stand perfectly straight up, and every muscle twitches. Daniel's voice is there, too, soft and deep. You're surprised to hear how much he's grown in the time since you saw him last. He's crying. Xume's screaming for her mother. You sit on the floor, clenching your fists and staring hard at the carpet while their uncle tries to fight Xume down and Kurama pats Daniel's back and tries to lead him off.

The plan was, in case she got caught or killed, to let the kids go to the world of your choice and do what they want. They're both strong enough to take care of themselves, and smart enough to know when to fight.

"DADDY!" Xume screams, making you jump. "Where the fuck is Mommy!"

"We don't know, Xu, now stop fighting!" Ender says firmly, trying to hold the wolf-girl still. The last time he let her go, she threw him into the stairwell, and nearly broke his neck, but no one else is helping him.

"What happened?" Kurama asked.

"We were sparring in one of the upstairs rooms, and we heard the door slam open, and Xume said she smelled something, and we heard Mom yell at us to fight, and run, and some people in ugly uniforms came up and tried to get us, but Xume shot them all, and I think she killed them, but then we went out of the window, and Xume killed two more, I think."

"What was wrong with Kali?"

"She was, um, pushed against the wall, and, um, there were black things all on her, like darts or something. There were a bunch of people there." He sniffles helplessly.

You feel your fist clench by itself. Kurama lets Ender take Daniel, now that Xume has calmed down enough to leave it at crying on Ender's shoulder.

"Whoever took her had access to Spirit World. They used the chemical we did to weaken her, or she would have been able to kill all of them as soon as they were threatened."

"It's almost funny that your son looks older than you do," Yusuke mumbles, probably trying to lighten the mood.

"Has Koenma heard?"

"Doubt it."

You growl under your breath. "What communication is allowed?"

"You're the only one allowed to visit. Xume will be living in the Makai, and I have a feeling that Daniel will follow his sister. A little communication will be allowed, dominantly through demon messengers. One of them has a pet or Spirit Beast through which this will be allowed and enabled.

"We are not to see them, and they are not to try to see us."

You sigh a little, and you catch the tear that manages to fall out of your eyes, and you break it in your fist. You duck your face down and glare out at Kurama from between your elbows and your hair.

"They will pay for this," you finally manage to croak. "I will find them and they will pay for this."

You, in a fit of rage, throw the shards of your tear gem into the wall, and you get to your feet. "I'm going to the Makai. Don't expect me back any time soon," you finally warn. First, you intend to go find someone to kill, and then you intend to go and find out who the hell captured your mate and attempted to capture your children and make sure that nothing of the sort ever happens again.


End file.
